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Title: The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Creator(s): Emmerich, Anne Catherine (1774-1824)
Print Basis: Springfield, Illinois: Templegate (1954)
Rights: Public Domain
CCEL Subjects: All; Mysticism
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THE LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
From the visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich
Translated by
Sir Michael Palairet
With supplementary notes by
Rev. Sebastian Bullough, O.P.
Edited by
Donald R. Dickerson, Jr.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
TABLE OF FIGURES 6
PREFACE 7
I. ANCESTORS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 8
1. THE ANCESTORS OF ST. ANNE --ESSENES. 11
2. ST. ANNE AND ST. JOACHIM. 30
2.1 JOACHIM IS SPURNED AT THE TEMPLE AND GOES TO STAY WITH HIS FLOCKS.
37
2.2 ST. ANNE RECEIVES THE PROMISE OF FERTILITY AND TRAVELS TO THE
TEMPLE. 39
2.3 JOACHIM IS COMFORTED BY AN ANGEL AND RETURNS AGAIN TO THE TEMPLE TO
SACRIFICE. 42
2.4 JOACHIM RECEIVES THE BLESSING FROM THE ARK OF THE COVENANT. 47
II. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION 49
1. JOACHIM AND ST. ANNE MEET BENEATH THE GOLDEN GATE. 49
2. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
52
2.1 THE ANGELS ARE SHOWN THE RESTORATION OF MANKIND. 52
2.2 AN EGYPTIAN REPRESENTATION OF MARY PRIOR TO ELIJAH. 57
2.3 ELIJAH'S VISION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 58
2.4 AN EXPOUNDING ON ELIJAH'S VISION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. 60
2.5 A REPRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN EGYPT. 62
2.6 MARY PROCLAIMED TO PIOUS PAGANS. 65
2.7 THE LIFE STORY OF TOBIAS. AN ALLEGORY OF THE COMING OF SALVATION.
65
2.8 THE GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE MESSIAH. 67
2.9 APPARITION OF SAINT ANNE. 70
2.10 VISION OF THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. 71
2.11 THE BLESSED VIRGIN REVEALS SECRETS ABOUT THEIR LIVES. 73
2.12 CELEBRATION OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS. 74
2.13 THE HOLY KINGS CELEBRATE A FEAST HONORING MARY'S CONCEPTION. 77
2.14 ELIMINATION OF HUMAN SACRIFICE BY THE STAR-WORSHIPPERS. 77
2.15 A PARALLEL VISION OF CHILD SACRIFICE. 79
2.16 HISTORY OF THE CELEBRATIONS OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY. 80
3. THE ACTUAL SEASON OF MARY'S CONCEPTION (NOTE BY THE WRITER). 82
4. THE INFUSING OF MARY'S SOUL AND HER BIRTH. 84
4.1 THE UNITING OF MARY'S SOUL AND BODY. 84
4.2 MARY'S BIRTH. 85
4.3 JOY AT MARY'S BIRTH IN HEAVEN. 88
4.4 THE PROCLAIMING OF MARY'S BIRTH IN LIMBO. 88
4.5 AGITATION IN NATURE AND MANKIND AT MARY'S BIRTH. 88
4.6 THE PROCLAIMING OF MARY'S BIRTH IN CHALDEA. 89
4.7 EVENTS IN EGYPT DURING MARY'S BIRTH. 91
4.8 VISITS WITH THE NEWBORN BABY MARY. 92
4.9 THE CHILD RECEIVES THE NAME MARY. 92
5. CAUSE OF THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF MARY. 93
6. THE EFFECT OF PRAYING ON THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF MARY. 96
7. THE PURIFICATION OF ST. ANNE. 97
III. THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE TEMPLE 98
1. PREPARATION IN ST. ANNE'S HOUSE. 98
2. THE DEPARTURE OF THE CHILD MARY FOR THE TEMPLE. 106
3. BEGINNING THE JOURNEY. 110
4. ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM. 115
5. MARY'S ENTRY INTO THE TEMPLE AND PRESENTATION. 121
IV. THE EARLY LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN AT THE TEMPLE. 128
V. THE EARLY LIFE OF ST. JOSEPH 130
1. AN ELDER BROTHER OF ST. JOSEPH 136
VI. A SON IS PROMISED TO ZECHARIAH 138
VII. MARRIAGE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO JOSEPH 141
1. ABOUT MARY AND JOSEPHS WEDDING AND NUPTIAL CLOTHES. 145
2. MARY'S WEDDING-RING. 151
3. FROM MARY'S RETURN HOME TO THE ANNUNCIATION. 154
VIII. THE ANNUNCIATION 156
IX. THE VISITATION 163
1. MARY AND JOSEPH TRAVEL TO VISIT ELIZABETH. 163
2. MARY AND JOSEPH ARRIVE AT THE HOUSE OF ELIZABETH AND ZECHARIAH. 166
3. THE BIRTH OF JOHN. MARY RETURNS TO NAZARETH. 181
X. THE CENSUS AND THE JOURNEY OF THE HOLY FAMILY 183
1. THE CENSUS OF THE EMPEROR AUGUSTUS IS PROCLAIMED. CHRIST'S BIRTH IN
NOVEMBER. 183
2. ST. ANNE'S HOUSE IN NAZARETH. PREPARING FOR CHRIST'S BIRTH. 183
3. JOSEPH IS TOLD TO TRAVEL WITH MARY TO BETHLEHEM. 184
4. JOSEPH REVEALS TO MARY THE ANGEL'S COMMANDMENT. 186
5. ON THE JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM 186
5.1 THE FIELD GINIM. THE TRAVELERS ARE GIVEN A YOUNG SHE-ASS FROM
ANNA'S PASTURE. 186
5.2 TRAVELING AT NIGHT. MARY AND JOSEPH REST AT THE TEREBINTH OF
ABRAHAM. 188
5.3 TWO HOURS SOUTH OF THE TEREBINTH TREE. THEY REST IN AN EMPTY SHED.
189
5.4 SABBATH CELEBRATION. 191
5.5 THEY TRAVEL FURTHER SOUTH-EAST. THEY SEE THE TEMPLE ON MOUNT
GARIZIM. 191
5.6 BETWEEN SAMARIA AND JUDEA. THE FRUITLESS FIG TREE NORTH-EAST OF
BETHANY. 193
5.7 THEY STOP AT A SHEPHERD'S LARGE HOUSE. 195
5.8 A HOUSE OWNED BY JOSEPH'S RELATIVES. THEY STAY AT AN INN CONDUCTING
A FUNERAL. 196
5.9 THE LAST STRETCH OF ROAD TOWARDS BETHLEHEM. THE GOODWILL OF THE INN
OWNERS. 197
6. THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY FAMILY IN BETHLEHEM. 197
7. SEEKING LODGING IN BETHLEHEM. 199
8. DESCRIPTION OF THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 201
9. THE BURIAL CAVE OF MARAHA, ABRAHAM'S NURSE, ALSO CALLED THE CAVE OF
THE SUCKLINGS. 206
10. THE HOLY FAMILY MOVES INTO THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. 208
11. MARY CONCLUDES THE SABBATH IN THE BURIAL CAVE OF MARAHA. 210
XI. CHRIST'S BIRTH 212
1. GREAT JOY IN NATURE. "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST". 214
2. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. 218
3. REVELATIONS OF THE BIRTH TO THE KINSWOMEN AND FRIENDS OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN. 218
4. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN JERUSALEM. 218
5. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN ROME. 219
6. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN EGYPT. 221
7. VISIONS APPEAR DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
221
8. VISION FRAGMENTS WHICH DETERMINE THE EXACT DATE OF THE BIRTH OF
CHRIST. 226
9. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. 229
10. THE SHEPHERDS ASSIST ST. JOSEPH. ESSENE WOMEN RENDER SERVICE TO THE
BLESSED VIRGIN. 231
11. THE DONKEY KNEELS BEFORE JESUS. ST. ANNE'S MAID FROM NAZARETH COMES
TO MARY. 231
12. THE BLESSED VIRGIN HIDES FROM EMISSARIES OF HEROD. 233
13. THE ANGEL'S APPEARANCE TO THE SHEPHERDS HAS BECOME WIDESPREAD. 234
14. MANY PEOPLE VISIT THE CHILD JESUS ON THE WAY TO BETHLEHEM. JOSEPH
PAWNS THE SHE-ASS. 234
XII. THE CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS 235
1. PREPARATION FOR THE CIRCUMCISION. JOSEPHS FETCHS THE PRIESTS FROM
BETHLEHEM. 235
2. THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST. THE NAME JESUS. 236
3. ELIZABETH VISITS THE MANGER. 239
4. FAMILIARITY BETWEEN MARY AND ELIZABETH. MARY CONFIDES HER PAINS AND
JOYS. 239
XIII. THE JOURNEY OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS TO BETHLEHEM 242
1. THE KINGS SEE THE STAR AND BEGIN THEIR TRAVEL. 242
2. VISIONS OF ABRAHAM, HAGAR, AND ISHMAEL. 249
3. THEOKENO CATCHES UP TO THE TRAIN OF MENSOR AND SAIR IN A DESERTED
CITY. 251
4. THE HISTORICAL COLORS AND NAMES OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS. 252
5. THE TRAIN OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS RESTS AT A SPRING. 253
6. ABOUT THE HOMELANDS AND LENGTHS OF THE JOURNEYS OF THE THREE HOLY
KINGS. 257
7. NIGHT TRAVEL OF THE KINGS. 259
8. THE ANCESTORS OF THE KINGS. THEIR STAR OBSERVATIONS - JACOB'S LADDER
AND ITS PROPHESIES. 261
9. THE KINGS TRAIN IS AUGMENTED WITH OTHER TRAVELERS. 265
10. THE BLESSED VIRGIN FORESEES THE APPROACH OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
266
11. JOSEPH CELEBRATES THE FEAST OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE. 267
12. JOSEPH WANTS TO SETTLE DOWN IN BETHLEHEM. 268
13. END OF THE FEAST OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE. 268
14. THE TRAIN OF THE KINGS. ARRIVAL IN MANATHEA. 270
15. ST. ANNE JOURNEYS TO BETHLEHEM. 272
16. THE TRAIN OF THE KINGS CROSSES THE JORDON. 276
17. THEOKENO IS SUMMONED TO HEROD'S PALACE. 279
18. THE THREE HOLY KINGS APPEAR BEFORE HEROD. 280
19. HEROD'S STATE OF MIND - A MURDER. 281
20. THE HOLY THREE KINGS GO TO BETHLEHEM. THEY REST BY A SPRING. 283
21. ARRIVAL OF THE THREE KINGS AT THE TAX-COLLECTION HOUSE IN
BETHLEHEM. 284
22. JOSEPH ENTERTAINS THE THREE HOLY KINGS. 290
23. THE KINGS VISIT WITH THE HOLY FAMILY AGAIN. THEIR GENEROSITY TO THE
SHEPHERDS. 291
24. DEPARTURE OF THE KINGS. 294
XIV. THE HOLY FAMILY IN BETHLEHEM AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THE KINGS. 295
1. MEASURES TAKEN IN BETHLEHEM AGAINST THE KINGS. JOSEPH IS EXAMINED
AND BLACKMAILED. 295
2. ST. ANNE RETURNS WITH ELIUD. 296
3. THE HOLY FAMILY HIDES IN THE BURIAL CAVE OF MARAHA. 299
4. JOSEPH TAKES THE BABY JESUS FROM MARY BECAUSE OF DANGER. 300
5. COMMEMORATION OF MARY'S WEDDING. 300
6. preparations FoR the departure OF the hOLY family. 301
XV. PERSONAL NOTES: RELICS NEARBY THAT THE THREE KINGS HAD GIVEN TO THE
HOLY FAMILY. 303
XVI. THE PURIFICATION OF MARY 309
1. A VIEW OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS ON THEIR JOURNEY HOME. 316
2. SIMEON'S DEATH. 316
3. THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY FAMILY AT ST. ANNE'S HOUSE. 318
4. THE WEATHER IN PALESTINE. 319
5. CANDLEMAS. 320
XVI. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN THE DESERT 322
1. THE AGE OF THE CHILD JESUS DURING THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT. 322
2. NAZARETH. THE HOUSE OF THE HOLY FAMILY. 323
3. JERUSALEM. HEROD'S PREPARATIONS FOR THE MURDER OF THE CHILDREN. 323
4. HEROD PLACES SOLDIERS IN VARIOUS PLACES SURROUNDING JERUSALEM. 324
5. PERSONAL NOTES: PRAYER DURING THE SEASON OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE
HOLY INNOCENTS. 324
6. NAZARETH. ST. ANNE AND HER MAID BRING FOOD TO THE HOLY FAMILY. 325
7. NAZARETH. A LOOK AT THE LIFESTYLE OF THE HOLY WOMEN. 325
8. NAZARETH. AN ANGEL WAKES JOSEPH TO FLEE. 326
9. NAZARETH. THE HOLY WOMEN PUT THINGS IN ORDER AND LEAVE JOSEPH'S
HOME. 328
10. THE GROVE OF MOREH. ABRAHAM'S TEREBINTH TREE. 331
11. THE HOLY FAMILY RESTS BY A STREAM. 331
12. JUTTAH. ELIZABETH TAKES JOHN INTO THE WILDERNESS. 331
13. EPHRAIM BY THE MAMBRE WOODS. 332
14. SOUTH OF HEBRON. JOHN SENDS THE THIRSTING JESUS A SPRING OF WATER.
333
15. NEAR ANIM. THE LAST INN IN THE REGION OF HEROD. 335
16. NIGHT TRAVEL. THE HOLY FAMILY STARTLES SNAKES AND FLYING LIZARDS.
336
17. MARA (?). AN INHOSPITABLE DESERT. 337
18. THE ROBBERS HUT. THE ROBBERS BECOME FRIENDLY. 337
19. THE WILDERNESS. SNAKES AND FLYING LIZARDS. 340
20. THE DESERT. A SPRING ARISES FROM MARY'S PRAYER. 342
21. HELIOPOLIS, OR ON. 342
22. HELIOPOLIS, ON. JOSEPH BUILDS A PLACE FOR JEWISH PRAYER. 345
23. THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS. 346
24. THE BOY JOHN ESCAPES AGAIN TO THE WILDERNESS. 350
25. TRAIN TO MATAREA. AN IDOL FALLS AT THE FAMILY'S PASSING. 351
26. MATAREA AND ITS POVERTY. 353
27. ELIZABETH TAKES THE BOY JOHN AGAIN TO THE WILDERNESS. 355
28. HEROD HAS ZECHARIAH CAPTURED, QUESTIONED, AND KILLED. ELIZABETH
DIES. 357
29. MATAREA. THE HOLY VIRGIN DISCOVERS A SPRING NEAR THEIR HOUSE. 360
29.1 THE SPRING AT MATAREA - DISCOVERED BY JOB. 361
29.2 THE SPRING AT MATAREA - ABRAHAM LIVES A LONG TIME BY IT. 366
XVII. THE RETURN OF THE HOLY FAMILY FROM EGYPT 371
XVIII. THE DEATH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AT EPHESUS 375
1. REGARDING MARY'S AGE. 375
2. MARY'S HOUSE IN EPHESUS. 377
3. MARY'S MAIDSERVANT AND JOHN THE APOSTLE. 379
4. MARY TRAVELS FROM EPHESUS TO JERUSALEM. 381
5. RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF THE HOLY FAMILY WHO ALSO LIVE IN EPHESUS.
383
6. THE HOLY VIRGIN MAKES THE WAY OF THE CROSS FOR THE LAST TIME. 384
7. TWO APOSTLES HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED. 387
8. ARRIVAL OF SIMON THE APOSTLE. 388
9. JERUSALEM AT THE TIME OF THE DEATH OF THE HOLY VIRGIN. 389
10. THE APOSTLES HOLD A SERVICE. 390
11. JAMES THE GREATER AND PHILIP ARRIVE. 392
12. HOW THE APOSTLES WERE CALLED TO MARY'S DEATHBED. 393
13. THE EFFECT OF RELICS OF THE APOSTLES ON THE VISIONS. 396
14. THE DEATH OF THE HOLY VIRGIN. 397
XIX. THE BURIAL AND ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN 407
Related Works By or About Anne Catherine Emmerich 415
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Pattern of a sacred Essene scapular which Moses had once
worn. 19
Figure 2. Patterns of an Essene sacred silk vestment and cloak. 20
Figure 3. Head of the Essenes in sacred vestments. 22
Figure 4. Egyptian idol of the blessed virgin Mary constructed after
receiving Elijah's prophesy. 64
Figure 5. Mary in ceremonial garments. 102
Figure 6. Saint Joseph's ancestral home. 131
Figure 7. Mary in her wedding dress. 147
Figure 8. Mary's hair adorned for her wedding. 149
Figure 9. Saint Joseph in his wedding garments. 152
Figure 10. The Annunciation. 159
Figure 11. Mary resting at Elizabeth's house. 177
Figure 12. The Cave of the Nativity. 202
Figure 13. Mary's resting place beside the crib. 215
Figure 14. The Shepherds' Tower. 216
Figure 15. Vision of the Emperor Augustus on the day of Jesus' birth.
222
Figure 16. Saint Anne's maid. 232
Figure 17. An Eastern man and woman making wool cords. 245
Figure 18. Two of the three kings: Theokeno and Seir. 255
Figure 19. Vision of the three kings at the time of Mary's conception.
264
Figure 20. Saint Anne's maid. 275
Figure 21. The holy family flees from Nazareth. 329
Figure 22. Family treasure of Abraham -- a genealogy of Noah's children
down to Abraham's time. 368
Figure 23. Mary in her ceremonial dress. 386
Figure 24. Peter in rich, priestly vestments. 400
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PREFACE
Clemens Brentano was a well-known and well-to-do German poet and
writer. After he had met the German nun and mystic, Anna Emmerich, on
September 24, 1818, he was so amazed, he decided to be her
stenographer. He later wrote, "I feel that I must stay here, that I
must not leave this admirable creature before her death. I feel that my
mission is here, and that God has heard the prayer I made when I begged
him to give me something to do for His glory that would not be above my
strength. I shall endeavor to gather and preserve the treasures of
grace that I have here before my eyes." So, daily, for six years, this
writer sublimated his career to take dictation. Why? Because he could
see that this was God's work.
Beginning in 1818, Anna Katharina Emmerich dictated to Clemens Brentano
over a period of 6 years various details about the life of Jesus Christ
in chronological order. She had additional visions of "celebrated"
events such as Christmas, Easter, and Saints Holidays when those feast
days occurred in the Catholic Church. Anna's visions, as the reader
will see, are quite detailed. Internal biblical "contradictions" are
often straightforwardly explained away, though Anna, appears unaware
that she does so. For example, the genealogy of Jesus is given both in
Luke 3:28-38 and Matthew 1:1-16, and they obviously differ. However, by
compiling the relationships that Anna relates in this text, it can be
seen that one gospel is stating Jesus' genealogical descent through
Jesus' foster-father, Joseph, and the other, through Mary.
The primary additions to this new edition of The Life of the Blessed
Virgin Mary are:
1. Woodcut figures that were included in the German 1852 edition have
been included.
2. Archaic word usage and all spelling has been revised to modern
American English.
3. All place names and proper names have been updated to modern
spelling norms.
4. Textual omissions of previous editions have been corrected.
5. German section titles, omitted by the English translator, have been
translated and included.
6. Some new footnotes have been added.
Footnotes are typically concluded with initials in parenthesis.
Footnotes without initials or initialed "Tr." are from Michael
Palairet, CB are from Clemens Brentano, and SB from Sebastian Bullough.
Donald R. Dickerson, Jr.
12 November 2007
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I. ANCESTORS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
Last night there came again before my soul everything that I had so
often seen as a child concerning the life of the ancestors of the
Blessed Virgin Mary. I saw it all in a series of pictures just as I did
then. If only I could tell it all as I know it and have it before my
eyes, it would certainly give great joy to the Pilgrim. [1] In my
miserable state I was greatly revived by contemplating these pictures.
As a child I was so certain of all I saw that if anyone told me any of
the stories differently, I would say straight out: No, this is how it
is.' And, indeed, I would have let myself be killed rather than deny
that it was thus and not otherwise. Later on, life in the world
confused me, and I kept silence. The inner certainty has, however,
always remained with me, and last night I once more saw everything even
to the smallest details.
When I was a child, my thoughts were always taken up with the Crib and
the Child Jesus and with the Mother of God, and I often wondered very
much why people told me nothing about the family of the Blessed Virgin.
I could not understand at all why so little had been written down about
her ancestors and relations. In the great longing which I had, I then
received a multitude of visions of the Blessed Virgin's ancestors. I
must have seen them back to the fourth or fifth generation. I saw them
always as wonderfully pious and simple people inspired by a quite
extraordinary secret longing for the coming of the promised Messiah. I
saw them always living amongst other men who, compared to them, seemed
to me rough and barbarous. They themselves, I saw, were so quiet,
gentle and kindly, that I often said to myself in great anxiety about
them: O where can these good people find a refuge, how are they to
escape from those rough, wicked men? I will seek them out and will be
their servant, I will fly with them into a wood where they can hide
themselves; I am sure I shall still be able to find them!' So clearly
did I see them and believe in them, that I was always afraid and full
of anxiety about them.
I always saw these people leading a life of great self-denial. I often
saw that those among them who were married bound themselves mutually to
observe continence for a time; and this gave me much joy, though why
this was I could not clearly say. They practiced these separations
chiefly when they were occupied with all kinds of religious ceremonies,
accompanied by incense and prayers. [2] From these I perceived that
there were priests among them. I often saw them moving from one place
to another, leaving large homesteads and retiring to smaller ones, in
order to lead their lives undisturbed by wicked people.
They were so devout and so full of longing towards God that I often saw
them alone in the field by day, and by night, too, running about and
crying to God with such intense desire that, in the hunger of their
hearts, they tore open their garments at their breasts, as if God were
about to burn Himself into their hearts with the hot rays of the sun,
or to quench with the moonlight and starlight their thirst for the
fulfillment of the Promise.
I remember pictures like these came to me when, as a child or as a
young girl, I was kneeling and praying to God, alone with the flock in
the pastures, or at night on the high fields above our farm; or when,
in Advent, I walked through the snow at midnight to the Rorate [3]
devotions in St. James's Church at Coesfeld, three-quarters of an hour
away from our cottage at Flamske. The evening before, and in the night,
too, I prayed much for the poor souls in purgatory. I thought that in
their lives they had perhaps not been eager enough for grace; perhaps
they had given way to other desires for the creatures and goods of the
world, had fallen into many faults, and were now yearning to be
released. So I offered up my prayer and my longing to God our Savior
for them, trying as it were to pay their debt for them. I got a little
benefit, too, for myself, for I knew that the kind Holy Souls, in
gratitude to me and because of their constant desire for help by
prayers, would wake me at the right time and would not let me
oversleep. And so they did; they floated round my bed like little
flames, little dim, quiet flames, and woke me just in time for me to be
able to offer up my morning prayer for them. Then I sprinkled myself
and them with holy water, put on my clothes, and started on my way. I
saw the poor little lights accompanying me in a regular procession; and
on the way I sang with true heart's desire: Drop down dew, you heavens,
from above, and let the clouds rain the Just One.' And as I sang, I saw
here and there, in the wilderness and in the fields, the beloved
ancestors of Our Blessed Lady running about and crying for the Messiah;
and I did as they did, and came to Coesfeld always in time for the
Rorate [4] Mass, even when the Holy Souls led me, as they sometimes
did, a very long way round past all the Stations of the Cross.
Now, in my visions of these beloved ancestors of the Blessed Virgin
praying so hard in their hunger for God, they seemed to me strange
indeed in their dress and in their way of living, and yet so near and
so clear to me, that I still know and have before my eyes all their
features and figures. And I kept asking myself: What manner of people
are these? Everything is different from nowadays, yet there these
people are, and all that I see has really happened!' And so I always
used to hope that I might go to them.
In all they did and in all they said and in their religious services,
these good people were very decided and exact; and they made no
lamentations except over the sufferings of their neighbors.
1. THE ANCESTORS OF ST. ANNE [5] --ESSENES.
I had a detailed vision of the ancestors of St. Anne, the mother of the
Blessed Virgin. They lived at Mara in the region of Mount Horeb, and
were connected spiritually with a kind of very devout Israelites of
whom I have seen a great deal. I will relate as much as I can recall
about them. I was with these people almost the whole of yesterday, and
if I had not been oppressed by so many visits, I should not have
forgotten nearly all of what I saw.
These devout Israelites who were connected with the ancestors of St.
Anne were called Essenes or Essaees. They have, however, changed their
name three times, for they were first called Eskarenes, then
Chasidaees, and finally Essenes. Their first name, Eskarenes, came from
the word Eskara or Azkara, which is the name for the part of the
sacrifice belonging to God, and also for the sweet-smelling incense at
the offering of wheaten flour. [6] The second name, Chasidaees, means
merciful. [7] I cannot remember what the name Essenes comes from. [8]
The way of life of these devout people is an inheritance from the time
of Moses and Aaron and in particular from the priests who carried the
Ark of the Covenant; but it was not until the period between Isaiah and
Jeremiah that their way of life was regularly established. At the
beginning there were not many of them; later on, however, their
settlements in the Promised Land occupied a space twenty-four hours'
journey long and thirty-six hours' journey broad. They did not come to
the region of the Jordan until later; they lived mostly on the slopes
of Mount Horeb and Mount Carmel, the home of Elijah.
In the lifetime of St. Anne's grandparents, the Essenes had a spiritual
head who lived on Mount Horeb. He was an aged prophet called Archos or
Arkas. [9] Their organization was very like that of a religious order.
All who wished to enter it had to undergo a year's tests, and the
length of time for which they were accepted was decided by prophetic
inspirations from above. The real members of the Order, who lived in a
community, did not marry but lived in chastity; but there were others
(who had formerly been in the Order or were attached to it) who married
and carried out in their families, and with their children and
household, something similar in many ways to the traditional discipline
of the real Essenes. Their relation ship with these was like that
between the lay members of a Catholic Third Order, or Tertiaries, and
the professed priests of the Order. In all important matters,
especially as to the marriages of their relations, these married
Essenes always sought instruction and counsel from the aged prophet on
Mount Horeb. St. Anne's grandparents belonged to this kind of married
Essenes.
Later there arose a third kind of Essenes who exaggerated everything
and fell into great errors, and I saw that the others would have no
dealings with them.
The real Essenes were specially concerned with prophetic matters, and
their head on Mount Horeb was often vouchsafed divine revelations in
the cave of Elijah respecting the coming of the Messiah. He had
knowledge of the family from which the mother of the Messiah was to
come, and at the time that he gave prophetic advice to the grandparents
of St. Anne in matters of marriage, he saw that the day of the Lord was
approaching. He did not, however, know how long the birth of the
Savior's mother might still be prevented or delayed by sin, and so he
was always preaching penance, mortification, prayer, and inner
sacrifice for this intention--pious exercises of which all Essenes had
ever given the example.
Until Isaiah assembled these people together and gave them a more
regular organization, they were scattered about the land of Israel,
leading lives of piety and intent on mortification They wore their
clothes without mending them till they fell off their bodies. They
fought particularly against sexual immorality, and often by mutual
consent lived in continence for long periods, living in huts far
removed from their wives. When they lived together as husband and wife,
it was only with the intention of producing a holy offspring which
might bring nearer the coming of the Savior. I saw them eating apart
from their wives; the wife came to take her meal after the husband had
left the table. There were ancestors of St. Anne and of other holy
people among these early Essenes.
Jeremiah too was connected with them, and the men called Sons of the
Prophet' came from them. They often lived in the desert and round Mount
Horeb and Carmel, and later I saw many of them in Egypt. I also saw
that for a time they were driven away from Mount Horeb by war and were
reassembled by new leaders. The Maccabees also belonged to them. They
had a great devotion to Moses, and possessed a sacred piece of his
clothing given by him to Aaron, from whom it had come down to them.
This was their most precious relic, and I had a vision of some fifteen
of them being killed in defending it. Their prophet leaders had
knowledge of the secret mysteries of the Ark of the Covenant.
The real Essenes who lived in chastity were indescribably pure and
devout. They adopted children and brought them up to lead a very holy
life. To be accepted as a member of the regular Order, a boy had to
have reached the age of fourteen. Those who had been already tested had
to undergo a year's novitiate, others two years. They did not carry on
any form of trade, but exchanged the produce of their agriculture for
whatever else they needed. If one of them had committed a grave sin, he
was expelled from among them and excommunicated by their head. This
excommunication had the force of that pronounced by Peter against
Ananias, who was struck dead by it. Their head knew by prophetic
inspiration who had committed sin. I also saw some Essenes undergoing
penitential punishment; they were obliged to stand in a stiff robe with
their arms extended immovably in sleeves lined with thorns.
Mount Horeb was full of little caves, which formed the cells where they
lived. An assembly hall of light wattlework had been built onto the
mouth of one of the large caves. Here they came together at eleven
o'clock in the morning and ate. Each had a small loaf of bread in front
of him with a goblet. The head went from place to place and blessed
each one's bread. After the meal they returned to their separate cells.
In this assembly hall there was an altar on which stood little blessed
loaves covered up; they were in some way sacred, and were, I think,
distributed among the poor.
The Essenes had a great number of doves, which were tame and ate out of
their hands. They ate doves, but also used them in their ritual
ceremonies. They said something over them and let them fly away. I saw,
too, that they released lambs in the desert after saying something over
them, as if they were to take their sins on them. [10]
I saw them go three times a year to the Temple in Jerusalem. They had
also priests among them whose special duty was the care of the sacred
vestments; they cleaned them, contributed money for them, and also made
new ones. I saw them engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, but
specially in gardening. Mount Horeb was full of gardens and fruit trees
in the spaces between their huts. I saw many of them weaving and
plaiting, and also embroidering priests' vestments. I did not see them
producing silk; that came in bundles to be sold to them, and they
exchanged other produce for it.
In Jerusalem they had a quarter of their own to live in and a separate
place in the Temple as well. The other Jews rather disliked them
because of their austerity. I saw, too, that they sent presents to the
Temple; for example, great bunches of grapes, carried by two people on
a pole. They also sent lambs, but not to be slaughtered; I think they
just let them run into a garden. I did not see the real Essenes
offering bloody sacrifices in these later times. I saw that before they
journeyed to the Temple they made a very rigorous preparation by
prayer, fasting, and penance, including even scourgings. If one laden
with sins went to the Temple and to the Holy of Holies without having
made atonement by penance, he usually died on the spot. If on their
journey, or in Jerusalem itself, they found anyone who was ill or in
any way helpless, they did not go to the Temple until they had given
him all the aid in their power.
I saw that, in general, they employed themselves in healing. They
gathered herbs and prepared potions. I saw also that those holy people
whom I had seen some time before laying sick folk down on a bed of
healing plants were Essenes. [11] I saw, too, that the Essenes healed
the sick by the laying on of hands, or by stretching themselves on them
with arms extended. I saw them also healing at a distance in a
wonderful way, for the sick who could not come themselves sent a
representative to whom everything was done as it would have been to the
sick person. The time was noted, and the distant sick person was cured
at that very hour.
I saw that the Essenes on Horeb had in their caves recesses in the
walls where bones, carefully wrapped in cotton and silk, were kept as
sacred relics behind gratings. They were bones of prophets who had
lived here, and also of the children of Israel who had died near here.
There were little pots of green plants standing beside them. The
Essenes used to light lamps and pray before the bones in veneration of
them.
All the unmarried Essenes who lived together in communities on Mount
Horeb and elsewhere observed the greatest cleanliness. They wore long
white robes. The head of the Essenes on Horeb wore wonderful priestly
vestments during solemn religious services, after the manner of the
high priest in Jerusalem, only shorter and not so magnificent. When he
prayed and prophesied in the cave of Elijah on Mount Horeb, he always
wore these sacred vestments, which consisted of about eight pieces.
Amongst them was a very sacred relic, a sort of dalmatic or scapular,
covering the breast and shoulders, which Moses had worn next to his
body and had given to Aaron, from whom it had later descended to the
Essenes. The prophet Archos, their head on Mount Horeb, always wore
this dalmatic next his body when he was clothed in all his vestments
and was praying for prophetic enlightenment. The lower part of his body
was wrapped in a loincloth, while breast and shoulders were covered
with this sacred garment, which I will describe as exactly as I can
remember. It will probably be clearer if I cut out a sort of pattern of
it in paper. [She then quickly cut the shape, shown in Figure 1, out of
paper put together, saying:] This sacred scapulary had more or less
this shape when spread out. Its stuff was woven as stiff as haircloth.
On the middle of the breast and back was a triangular place of double
thickness and as it were quilted. I cannot now say for certain what was
between the layers. At the neck hole, part I, of the scapulary, a
triangular piece was cut from A to B, and a ribbon or little strap ran
across the top of the opening. Its lower point, B, was still attached
to the scapulary, and the triangle could be let down to hide completely
another opening over the breast. This other opening was cut from C to
D, and below triangle E, was the place of the double thickness
mentioned above. It was ribbed or quilted, and letters were fastened
into it with little pins and on the inside with sharp little hooks
sticking out and pricking the breast. On the cut-out triangle (which
was also of double thickness) at the neck there was also something like
letters. I do not now know what was inside these triangles. When the
priest put on this sacred vestment, the upper triangle exactly covered
the lower one. In the middle of the back there was another place, F,
where the stuff was quilted and of two thicknesses, and here, too,
there were letters and sharp pins.
Figure 1. Pattern of a sacred Essene scapular which Moses had once
worn.
Over his scapulary the head of the Essenes wore a gray woolen tunic,
and on this again a large full tunic made of white twisted silk, girt
with a broad belt inscribed with letters. He had a kind of stole round
the neck, crossed over the breast, and it was held fast under the
girdle and hung down below his knees. The stole was fastened with three
straps above and below the place where it was crossed. On this he put a
vestment not unlike a chasuble, which was also made of white twisted
silk. [She cut out a pattern of this vestment, shown in Figure 2, as it
looked when spread out. Please refer to Figure 2, part II.] The back
side, A, was narrow and came down to the ground; it had two bells
attached to the lower hem, which tinkled with the priest's movements
and called the people to the service. The front side, B, was shorter
and broader and open from the neck hole, C, downwards. This front part
had large openings, E, on the breast and below it, through which the
stole and undergarment could be seen. These openings were held together
in places by fastenings ornamented with letters and precious stones, D.
The front and back of this vestment were held together by strips of
stuff under the arms. [These were not shown in the pattern which she
cut out.] Round the neck was an upright collar, hooked together in
front. The priest's beard, divided in the middle of the chin, fell down
over this collar.
Figure 2. Patterns of an Essene sacred silk vestment and cloak.
Over all this he finally put on a little cloak [Figure 2, part III] of
white twisted silk. [Please refer to Figure 3 for a depiction of the
full outfit.] It shimmered and shone and was fastened in front with
three clasps ornamented with precious stones on which something was
engraved. From both shoulders of his cloak there were fringes, tassels,
and fruits hanging. Besides all this, he wore a short maniple on one
arm. The headdress was, as far as I can remember, also of white silk,
twisted into a round shape and padded, like a turban, yet resembling
our priests' birettas to a certain extent, for at the top it had ridges
like theirs and also a tuft of silk. A little plate of gold set with
precious stones was fastened over the forehead.
The Essenes were very austere and frugal in their way of living. They
generally ate only fruit, which they often cultivated in their gardens.
I saw that Archos usually ate a bitter yellow fruit. About 200 years
before Christ's birth I saw near Jericho a very devout Essene called
Chariot.
Archos or Arkas, the old prophet on Mount Horeb, ruled over the Essenes
for ninety years. I saw how St. Anne's grandmother questioned him about
her own marriage. It is remarkable that it was always about female
children that these prophets made predictions, and that Anna's
ancestors and Anna herself had mostly daughters. It was as if the
object of all their devotion and prayers was to obtain from God a
blessing on pious mothers from whose descendants the Blessed Virgin,
the mother of the Savior Himself, should spring, as well as the
families of His precursor and of His servants and disciples.
Figure 3. Head of the Essenes in sacred vestments.
The place where the head of the Essenes on Mount Horeb prayed and
prophesied was the cave where Elijah had dwelt. Many steps led to it up
the mountain-side, and one entered the cave through a small cramped
opening and down a few steps. The prophet Archos went in alone. For the
Essenes this was as if the high priest in the Temple went into the
Sanctissimum, for here was their Holy of Holies. Within there were
several mysterious holy things, difficult to describe. I will tell what
I can remember of them. I saw Anna's grandmother seeking counsel from
the prophet Archos.
Anna's grandmother came from Mara in the desert, where her family,
which belonged to the married Essenes, owned property. Her name sounded
to me like Moruni or Emorun. It was told me that this means something
like good mother' or noble mother'. [12] When the time came for her to
be married, she had several suitors, and I saw her go to the prophet
Archos on Horeb for him to decide whom she was to accept. She went into
a separate part of the large assembly hall and spoke to Archos, who was
in the hall, through a grating, as if she were making her confession to
him. It was Only in this way that women approached the place. I then
saw Archos put on his ceremonial vestments, and ascend thus arrayed the
many steps to the top of Mount Horeb, where he entered the cave of
Elijah by the little door and down the steps. He shut the little door
of the cave behind him, and opened a hole in the vaulting dimly
illuminating the cave, the interior of which had been carefully
hollowed out. Against the wall I saw a little altar carved out of the
rock, and noticed, though not quite clearly, several sacred objects on
it. On the altar were several pots with low-growing bushes of herbs.
They were the herbs which grow as high as the hem of Jesus' garment.
[13] I know this herb; it grows with us but less vigorously. The plants
gave Archos some sort of indication in his prophetic knowledge
according to whether they faded or flourished. In the middle between
these little bushes of herbs I saw something like a little tree, taller
than them, with leaves that looked yellowish and were twisted like
snail shells. There seemed to me to be little figures on this tree. I
cannot now say for certain whether this tree was living or was
artificial, like the Tree of Jesse. [On the next day she said:] On this
little tree with the twisted leaves could be seen, as on a tree of
Jesse or genealogical table, how soon the coming of the Blessed Virgin
was to be expected. It looked to me as if it were living and yet it
seemed also to be a receptacle, for I saw that a blossoming branch was
kept inside it. I think it was Aaron's rod, which had once been in the
Ark of the Covenant. When Archos prayed in the cave of Elijah for a
revelation on the occasion of a marriage among the Blessed Virgin's
ancestors, he took this rod of Aaron into his hand. If the marriage was
destined to take its place in the Blessed Virgin's ancestry, the rod
put forth a bud which produced one or more flowers, among which single
flowers were sometimes marked with the sign of the elect. Certain buds
represented particular ancestors of Anna, and when these came to be
married, Archos observed the buds in question and uttered his
prophecies according to the manner in which they unfolded.
The Essenes of Mount Horeb had, however, another holy relic in the cave
of Elijah; nothing less than a part of the most holy mystery of the Ark
of the Covenant which came into their possession when the Ark fell into
the hands of enemies. [She spoke here uncertainly of a quarrel and of a
schism among the Levites.] This holy thing, concealed in the Ark of the
Covenant in the fear of God, was known only to the holiest of the high
priests and to a few prophets, but I think that I learnt that it is in
some way mentioned in the little-known secret books of the old Jewish
thinkers. [14] It was no longer complete in the new Ark of the Covenant
in the Temple as restored by Herod. It was no work of man's hands, it
was a mystery, a most holy secret of the divine blessing on the coming
of the Blessed Virgin full of grace, in whom by the overshadowing of
the Holy Ghost the Word became Flesh and God became Man. Before the
Babylonian captivity this holy thing had been whole in the Ark of the
Covenant; I now saw part of it here in the possession of the Essenes.
It was kept in a chalice of shining brown, which seemed to me to be
made of a precious stone. They prophesied, too, with the help of this
holy thing, which seemed sometimes to put forth as it were little buds.
Archos, after entering the cave of Elijah, shut the door and knelt down
in prayer. He looked up to the opening in the vaulting and threw
himself face downwards on the ground. I then saw the prophetic
knowledge that was given to him. He saw that from under the heart of
Emorun, who was seeking his counsel, there grew as it were a rose tree
with three branches, with a rose on each of them. The rose on the
second branch was marked with a letter, I think an M. He saw still
more. An angel wrote letters on the wall; I saw Archos rise up as if
awaking and read these letters. I forget the details. He then went down
from the cave, and announced to the maiden who was awaiting his answer
that she was to marry and that her sixth suitor was to be her husband.
She would bear a child, marked with a sign, who was chosen out as a
vessel of election in preparation for the coming of the Savior.
Hereupon Emorun married her sixth suitor, an Essene called Stolanus; he
did not come from Mara, and as a result of his marriage and of his
wife's possessions he was given another name, which I can no longer
remember distinctly; it was pronounced in different ways and sounded
like Garescha or Sarziri. [15] Stolanus and Emorun had three daughters,
called, I remember, Ismeria and Emerentia, and a younger one whose
name, I think, was Enue. They did not remain long at Mara, but moved
later to Ephron. I saw that their daughters Ismeria and Emerentia both
married in accordance with the prophetic counsels of the prophet on
Horeb. (I can never understand why I have so often heard that Emerentia
was the mother of Anna, for I always saw that it was Ismeria.) I will
tell in God's name what I still have in my mind about these daughters
of Stolanus and Emorun. [16]
Emerentia married one Aphras or Ophras, a Levite. Of this marriage was
born Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. A second daughter was
named Enue like her mother's sister. At the time of Mary's birth she
was already a widow. There was a third daughter, Rhoda, one of whose
daughters was Mara, whom I saw present at the death of the Blessed
Virgin.
Ismeria married Eliud. They lived after the manner of the married
Essenes in the region of Nazareth. They had inherited from their
parents the tradition of discipline and continence in married life.
Anna was one of their children. The firstborn of Ismeria and Eliud was
a daughter called Sobe. Because this child did not bear the sign of the
promise, they were much distressed and again went to the prophet on
Mount Horeb to seek counsel. Archos exhorted them to betake themselves
to prayer and sacrifice, and promised them consolation. After Sobe's
birth, Ismeria remained barren for some eighteen years. When she again
became pregnant by God's blessing, I saw that Ismeria was given a
revelation at night. She saw an angel beside her bed writing a letter
on the wall. It seems to me that it was again that letter M. Ismeria
told her husband of it; he also had seen it in his sleep, but now,
while awake, they both saw the sign on the wall. After three months
Ismeria gave birth to St. Anne, who came into the world with that sign
upon her body.
In her fifth year Anna was, like the Blessed Virgin, taken to the
school in the Temple, where she remained twelve years. She was brought
home again in her seventeenth year, to find two children there--her
little sister Maraha, who had been born while she was away, and a
little son of her elder sister Sobe called Eliud. A year after this
Ismeria fell mortally ill. As she lay dying she spoke to all her
relations and presented Anna to them as the future mistress of the
house. Then she spoke once more with Anna alone, telling her that she
was a chosen vessel of grace, that she must marry, and must seek
counsel from the prophet on Mount Horeb. Then she died.
Sobe, Anna's elder sister, was married to Salomo. Besides her son Eliud
she had a daughter, Mary Salome, who married Zebedee and was the mother
of the apostles James and John. Sobe had a second daughter who was an
aunt of the bridegroom of Cana and the mother of three disciples.
Eliud, the son of Sobe and Salomo, was the second husband of the widow
Maroni of Naim and the father of the boy raised by Jesus from the dead.
Maraha, Anna's younger sister, was given the homestead in Sephoris when
her father Eliud moved to the valley of Zabulon. She married and had a
daughter and two sons, Arastaria and Cocharia, who became disciples.
Anna had yet a third sister who was very poor and was the wife of a
shepherd on Anna's pastures. She was often in Anna's house.
Enue, the third daughter of Stolanus, married and lived between
Bethlehem and Jericho. One of her descendants was with Jesus.
Anna's great grandfather was a prophet. Eliud, her father, was of the
tribe of Levi; her mother Ismeria was of the tribe of Benjamin. [17]
Anna was born at Bethlehem, but afterwards her parents moved to
Sephoris, four hours from Nazareth, where they had a house and land.
They also owned land in the beautiful valley of Zabulon, one and a half
hours from Sephoris and three hours from Nazareth. In the fine season
of the year Anna's father was often with his family in the valley of
Zabulon, [18] and after his wife's death he moved there altogether.
This led to the connection with the parents of Joachim, whom Anna
married. Joachim's father was called Matthat [19] and was the
stepbrother of Jacob (father of St. Joseph) and of Joses. Matthat had
settled in the valley of Zabulon.
I saw Anna's ancestors helping to carry the Ark of the Covenant with
great devotion and piety, and I saw also that they received from the
holy thing therein rays of light which extended to their descendants,
to Anna and the Blessed Virgin. Anna's parents were rich. This was
clear to me because of their possessions; they had many oxen; but they
kept nothing for themselves alone, they gave everything to the poor. I
saw Anna as a child; she was not particularly beautiful, but yet more
so than others. She was far less beautiful than Mary, but remarkably
simple and childlike in her piety; I have always seen her like that,
whether as girl, mother, or old, old woman. Indeed, whenever I saw a
real childlike old peasant woman, it always made me think she is like
Anna'. She had several other brothers and sisters, all married, but she
did not wish to marry. She was particularly fond of her parents, and
though she had at least six suitors, she rejected them all. After
taking counsel, like her ancestors with the Essenes, she was directed
to marry Joachim, whom she did not yet know, but who sought her in
marriage when her father Eliud moved to the valley of Zabulon, the home
of Joachim's father Matthat.
2. ST. ANNE AND ST. JOACHIM.
Joachim was far from handsome. St. Joseph, though no longer young, was
in comparison a very handsome man. Joachim was short and broad and at
the same time thin, and though he was a wonderfully pious, holy man, I
can't help laughing when I think of his appearance. Joachim was poor.
He was related to St. Joseph in the following way: Joseph's grandfather
was descended from David through Solomon and was called Matthan. He had
two sons, Jacob and Joses. Jacob was the father of Joseph. When Matthan
died, his widow married as her second husband Levi (descended from
David through Nathan), and by him had Matthat, the father of Heli, also
called Joachim. [20]
Wooing was in those days a very simple affair. The suitors were quite
awkward and bashful, and when the young people spoke to each other,
they accepted the idea of marriage as something that had to be. If the
bride-to-be said yes, the parents were glad, but if she said no and had
reason for it, they were just as satisfied. If everything was settled
between the parents, the betrothal followed in the synagogue of the
place. The priest prayed at the holy place where the scrolls of the Law
lay, the parents in their usual place. Meanwhile the betrothed couple
went together into a room and discussed their plans and their marriage
contract; if they were in agreement, they told their parents, and their
parents told the priest, who came towards them and received their
declaration. On the next day the wedding took place in the open air and
with many ceremonies.
Joachim and Anna were married in a little place with only a small
school. Only one priest was present. Anna was about nineteen years old.
They lived with Eliud, Anna's father. His house belonged to the town of
Sephoris, but was some distance away from it, among a group of houses
of which it was the largest. Here I think they lived for several years.
There was something very distinguished about both of them; they were
completely Jewish, but there was in them, unknown to themselves, a
wonderful seriousness. I seldom saw them laugh, but they were certainly
not sad when they began their married life. They had a serene and even
character, and even in their young days they seemed a little like
sedate old people. Often in my youth I have seen similar sedate young
couples, and even then I used to say to myself, they are just like Anna
and Joachim.
Their parents were well-to-do; they had many flocks and herds,
beautiful carpets and household things, and many manservants and
maidservants. I never saw them cultivating the fields, but often saw
them driving cattle out to pasture. They were very pious, devout,
charitable, simple, and upright. They often divided their herds and
everything else into three parts, and gave a third of the beasts to the
Temple, driving them there themselves and handing them over to the
Temple servants. The second part they gave to the poor or in answer to
the requests of their relations, some of whom were generally there to
drive the beasts away. The remainder, which was generally the worst,
they kept for themselves. They lived very frugally and gave to all who
asked. As a child I often used to think, Giving brings plenty; he who
gives, receives twice in return', for I saw that their third always
increased and that soon everything was in such abundance that they were
able to make the three divisions again. They had many relations who
were assembled in their house on all festive occasions, but I never saw
much feasting. I saw them giving food to the poor now and then, but I
never saw them having real banquets. When the family were together I
generally saw them lying on the ground in a circle, speaking of God in
eager expectation. I often saw bad men from their neighborhood watching
them with ill will and bitterness as they spoke together, looking up to
heaven so full of longing. They were kindly disposed towards these
ill-wishers, however, and lost no opportunity of asking them to their
house, where they gave them double shares of everything. I often saw
these men violently and angrily demanding what the good people gave
them in love and charity. There were poor people in their own family,
and I often saw them being given a sheep or even several.
The first child born to Anna in her father's house was a daughter, but
she was not the child of promise. The signs which had been predicted
were not present at her birth, which was attended by some trouble. I
saw that Anna, when with child, was distressed about her servants. One
of her maidservants had been led astray by a relation of Joachim. Anna,
in great dismay at this infringement of the strict discipline of her
house, reproached her somewhat severely for her fault, and the
maidservant took her misfortune so to heart that she was delivered
prematurely of a stillborn child. Anna was inconsolable over this,
fearing that it was her fault, with the result that her child was also
born too soon. Her daughter, however, did not die. Since this child had
not the signs of the promise and was born too early, Anna looked upon
this as a punishment of God, and was greatly distressed at what she
believed to be her own sin. She had, however, great joy in her newborn
little daughter, who was called Mary. She was a dear, good, gentle
child, and I always saw her growing up rather strong and fat. Her
parents were very fond of her, but they felt some uneasiness and
distress because they realized that she was not the expected holy fruit
of their union. They therefore did penance and lived in continence for
a long time. Afterwards Anna remained barren, [21] which she looked
upon as the result of her having sinned, and so redoubled all her good
works. I saw her often by herself in earnest prayer; I saw, too, how
they often lived apart from each other, gave alms, and sent sacrifices
to the Temple.
Anna and Joachim had lived with Anna's father Eliud for some seven
years (as I could see by the age of their first child), when they
decided to separate from their parents and settle in a house with land
in the neighborhood of Nazareth that had come to them from Joachim's
parents. There they intended in seclusion to begin their married life
anew, and to bring down God's blessing on their union by a way of life
more pleasing to Him. I saw this decision being taken in the family,
and I saw Anna's parents making the arrangements for their children's
new home. They divided their flocks and herds, setting apart for their
children oxen, asses, and sheep, all much bigger than we have at home.
All the household goods, crockery, and clothes were packed upon asses
and oxen standing before the door. All the good people were so clever
at packing the things up, and the beasts so intelligent in the way they
took their loads and carried them off. We are not nearly so clever in
packing things into carts as these people were in loading them onto
beasts. They had beautiful household things; all the vessels were more
delicate than nowadays, as if each had been made by the craftsman with
special love and intention. I watched them packing the fragile jugs,
decorated with beautiful ornamentation; they filled them with moss,
wrapped more moss round them, and made them fast to both ends of a
strap, so that they hung over the animal's backs, which were covered
with bundles of colored rugs and garments. I saw them, too, packing up
costly rugs heavily embroidered with gold; and the parents gave their
departing children a heavy little lump in a pouch, no doubt a piece of
precious metal.
When everything was ready, the menservants and maidservants joined the
procession, and drove the flocks and herds and the beasts of burden
before them to the new home, which was some five or six hours' journey
distant. I think it had belonged to Joachim's parents. After Anna and
Joachim had taken leave of all friends and servants, with thanks and
admonitions, they left their former home with much emotion and with
good resolutions. Anna's mother was no longer alive, but I saw that the
parents accompanied the couple to their new home. Perhaps Eliud had
married again, or perhaps it was only Joachim's parents who were there.
Mary Heli, Anna's elder daughter, who was about six or seven years old,
was also of the party.
Their new home lay in a pleasant hilly country; it was surrounded by
meadows and trees, and was one and a half hours, or a good hour, to the
west of Nazareth, on a height between the valley of Nazareth and the
valley of Zabulon. A ravine with an avenue of terebinth trees led from
the house in the direction of Nazareth. In front of the house was an
enclosed courtyard, the floor of which looked to me like bare rock. It
was surrounded by a low wall of rocks or rough stones, with a wattle
hedge growing either on it or behind it. On one side of this court
there were small, not very solid buildings for the workpeople and for
storing tools of various kinds; also an open shed had been put up there
for cattle and beasts of burden. There were several gardens, and in one
near the house was a great tree of a strange kind. Its branches hung
down to the ground, took root there, and threw up other trees which did
the same, until it was encircled by a whole series of arbors. There was
a door opening on hinges in the center of the rather large house. The
inside of the house was about as big as a moderate-sized village
church, and was divided into different rooms by more or less movable
wickerwork screens which did not reach to the ceiling. The door opened
into the first part of the house, a big anteroom running the whole
breadth of the building and used for banquets, or, if necessary, it
could be divided up by light movable screens to make small bedrooms
when there were many guests. Opposite the house door was a less solid
door in the middle of the back wall of this anteroom, leading to the
middle part of the house through a passage with four bedrooms on each
side of it. These rooms were partitioned off by light wickerwork
screens of a man's height and ending at the top in open trellis-work.
From here this passage led into the third or back part of the house,
which was not rectangular, as it ended in a semicircular curve like the
apse of a church. In the middle of this room, opposite the entrance,
the wall of the fireplace rose up to the smoke-opening in the roof of
the house; at the foot of this wall was the hearth where cooking was
done. A five-branched lamp hung from the ceiling in front of this
fireplace. At the side of it and behind it were several rather large
rooms divided off by light screens. Behind the hearth, divided off by
screens of rugs, were the rooms used by the family--the sleeping
places, the prayer alcove, the eating and working rooms. Beyond the
beautiful orchards round the house were fields, then a wood with a hill
behind it.
When the travelers arrived in the house they found everything already
in order and in its place, for the old people had sent the things on
ahead and had them arranged. The men-servants and maidservants had
unpacked and settled all the things just as beautifully and neatly as
when they were packed up, for they were so helpful and worked so
quietly and intelligently by themselves that one did not have to be
giving them orders all the time about every single thing as one must do
today. Thus everything was soon settled and quiet, and the parents,
having brought their children into their new home, blessed and embraced
them in farewell, and set off on their journey home, accompanied by
their little granddaughter, who went back with them. I never saw
feasting going on during such visits and on similar occasions; they
often lay in a circle and had a few little bowls and jugs on the carpet
before them, but their talk was generally of divine things and holy
expectations.
I now saw the holy couple beginning an entirely new life here. It was
their intention to offer to God all that was past and to behave as
though their marriage had only then taken place, endeavoring to live in
a manner pleasing to God, and thus to bring down upon them His blessing
which they so earnestly desired beyond all else. I saw both of them
going amongst their flocks and herds and following the example of their
parents (as I have described above) in dividing them into three
portions between the Temple, the poor, and themselves. The best and
choicest portion was driven off to the Temple; the poor were given the
next best one, and the least good they kept for themselves. This they
did with all their possessions. Their house was quite spacious; they
lived and slept in separate little rooms, where I saw them very often
praying by themselves with great devotion. I saw them living in this
way for a long time, giving generous alms, and each time they divided
their herds and goods I saw that everything quickly increased again.
They lived very abstemiously, observing periods of self-denial and
continence. I saw them praying in penitential garments, and I often saw
Joachim kneeling in supplication to God when he was with his herds far
away in the pastures.
For nineteen years after the birth of their first child they lived thus
devoutly before God in constant yearning for the gift of fruitfulness
and with an increasing distress. I saw ill-disposed neighbors coming to
them and speaking ill of them, saying that they must be bad people
since no children were born to them, that the little girl with Anna's
parents was riot really her daughter, but had been adopted by her
because of her barrenness, otherwise she would have had her at home,
and so forth. Each time they heard such words, the distress of the good
couple was renewed.
Anna's steadfast faith was supported by an inmost certainty that the
coming of the Messiah was near, and that she herself was among His
human relations. She prayed for the fulfillment of the Promise with
loud supplications, and both she and Joachim were always striving after
more perfect purity of life. The shame of her unfruitfulness distressed
her deeply. She could hardly appear in the synagogue without affront.
Joachim, though short and thin, was robust, and I often saw him going
to Jerusalem with the beasts for sacrifice. Anna was not tall either,
and very delicately formed. Her grief so consumed her that her cheeks,
though still slightly tinged with red, were quite hollow. They
continued to give portions of their herds to the Temple and to the
poor, while the portion they kept for themselves grew ever smaller and
smaller.
2.1 JOACHIM IS SPURNED AT THE TEMPLE AND GOES TO STAY WITH HIS FLOCKS.
After having besought God's blessing on their marriage for so many
years in vain, I saw that Joachim was minded to offer another sacrifice
at the Temple. He and Anna prepared themselves for this by penitential
devotions. I saw them lying on the hard earth in prayer during the
night, girt in penitential garments; after which Joachim went at
sunrise across the country to where his herds were pasturing, while
Anna remained at home by herself. Soon after this I saw Anna sending
him doves, other birds and many different things in cages and baskets.
They were all taken to him by menservants to be offered up in the
Temple. He took two donkeys from the pasture, and loaded them with
these baskets and with others into which he put, I think, three very
lively little white creatures with long necks. I cannot remember
whether they were lambs or kids. He had with him a staff with a light
on the top of it, which looked as if it were shining inside a hollow
gourd. I saw him arriving with his menservants and beasts of burden at
a beautiful green field between Bethany and Jerusalem, a place where
later I often saw Jesus stay. They journeyed on to the Temple, and
stabled the donkeys at the same Temple inn, near the cattle market,
where Joachim and Anna afterwards lodged at Mary's Presentation. They
then took the sacrificial offerings up the steps, and passed through
the dwellings of the Temple servants as before. [22] Here Joachim's
servants went back after handing over the offerings.
Joachim himself entered the hall, where stood the basin of water in
which all the sacrifices were washed. He then went through a long
passage into a hall on the left of the place in which were the altar of
incense, the table of the shewbreads and the seven-branched
candlestick. [23] There were several others assembled there to make
sacrifices, and it was here that Joachim had to bear his hardest trial.
I saw that one of the priests, Reuben [24] by name, disdained his
offerings, and did not put them with the others on the right-hand of
the hall, where they could be seen behind the bars, but thrust them on
one side. He reproached the unfortunate Joachim loudly and before the
others for his unfruitfulness, refused to admit him and sent him, in
disgrace, to an alcove enclosed with gratings.
I saw that upon this Joachim left the Temple in the greatest distress
and betook himself to an assembly house of the Essenes near Machaerus,
passing Bethany on the way. Here he sought counsel and consolation. (In
this same house, and earlier in a similar one near Bethlehem, lived the
prophet Manahem, [25] who prophesied to the young Herod about his
kingdom and his crimes.) From here Joachim betook himself to his most
distant herds on Mount Hermon. His way led him across the Jordan
through the desert of Gaddi. Mount Hermon is a long narrow mountain,
beautifully green and rich with fruit trees on the sunny side, but
covered with snow on the other.
2.2 ST. ANNE RECEIVES THE PROMISE OF FERTILITY AND TRAVELS TO THE TEMPLE.
Joachim was so grieved and ashamed at having been rejected with scorn
at the Temple that he did not even send to tell Anna whither he had
betaken himself. She heard, however, of the humiliation he had suffered
from others who had witnessed it, and her distress was indescribable. I
saw her often lying weeping with her face to the earth, because she had
no knowledge of where Joachim was. I believe that he remained hidden
among his flocks on Mount Hermon for as long as five months. During the
end of that time Anna's distress was much increased by the rudeness of
one of her maidservants, who kept reproaching her for her misfortunes.
Once, however, when this maidservant asked to be allowed to go away for
the Feast of Tabernacles (which was just beginning), Anna, remembering
how her former maidservant had been led astray, refused permission out
of vigilant care for her household. Whereupon this maidservant attacked
her so violently, declaring that her barrenness and Joachim's desertion
of her was God's punishment for her severity, that Anna could not bear
to have her in her house any more. She sent her back to her parents
with presents and accompanied by two menservants, with the request that
they would take back their daughter who had been entrusted to her, as
she could not keep her in her house any longer. After sending away this
maid, Anna went sadly into her room to pray. Towards evening she threw
a large shawl over her head, wrapping herself in it completely, and
went with a shaded light to the great tree in the courtyard which I
have described before as forming an arbor. Here she lit a lamp hanging
on this tree in a sort of box, and prayed from a scroll. This tree was
a very large one, there were arbors and seats arranged under it, for
its branches reached over the wall to the ground, where they took root
and shot up and again sank to the ground and took root, so that a whole
series of arbors encircled it. This tree was like the tree in the
Garden of Eden which bore the forbidden fruit. Its fruits hung from the
ends of the branches generally in bunches of five. They are
pear-shaped, and their flesh has blood-colored streaks; there is a
hollow in the center, round which are the seeds embedded in the flesh.
The leaves are very large, resembling, I think, those with which Adam
and Eve covered themselves in the Garden of Eden. The Jews used these
leaves specially for the Feast of Tabernacles. They decorated the walls
with them, because they could be fitted together beautifully one behind
the other like fishes' scales. Anna remained under this tree for a long
time, crying to God and begging that even though He made her barren,
yet He might not keep her pious companion Joachim far from her. And lo,
there appeared to her an Angel of God, he seemed to step down before
her from the top of the tree, and spoke to her, telling her to be of
good heart, for the Lord had heard her prayer [26] ; she was to journey
next day to the Temple with two maidservants, taking with her doves as
a sacrifice. Joachim's prayer, too, he said, had been heard, and he was
on his way to the Temple with his offerings; she would meet him under
the Golden Gate. Joachim's sacrifice would be accepted, and they would
be blessed and made fruitful; soon she would learn the name by which
their child was to be called. He told her, too, that he had given a
like message to her husband. Then he disappeared.
Anna, full of joy, thanked God for His mercies. She then went back into
the house and gave her maidservants the necessary orders for their
journey to the Temple next morning. I saw her afterwards lying down to
sleep after praying. Her bed was a narrow blanket with a pillow under
her head. (In the morning her blanket was rolled up.) She took off her
upper garments, wrapped herself from head to foot in an ample covering,
and lay down at full length on her right side, with her face to the
wall against which was the bed. After she had slept for a short time, I
saw a brightness pouring down towards her from above, which on
approaching her bed was transformed into the figure of a shining youth.
It was the angel of the Lord, who told her that she would conceive a
holy child; stretching his hand over her, he wrote great shining
letters on the wall which formed the name MARY. Thereupon the angel
dissolved into light and disappeared.
During this time Anna seemed to be wrapped in a secret, joyful dream.
She rose half-waking from her couch, prayed with great intensity, and
then fell asleep again without having completely recovered
consciousness. After midnight she awoke joyfully, as if by an inner
inspiration, and now she saw, with alarm mixed with joy, the writing on
the wall. This seemed to be of shining golden-red letters, large and
few in number; she gazed at them with unspeakable joy and contrite
humility until day came, when they faded away. She saw the writing so
clearly, and her joy thereat became so great, that when she got up she
appeared quite young again. In the moment when the light of the angel
had enveloped Anna in grace, I saw a radiance under her heart and
recognized in her the chosen Mother, the illuminated vessel of the
grace that was at hand. What I saw in her I can only describe by saying
that I recognized in her the cradle and tabernacle of the holy child
she was to conceive and preserve; a mother blessed indeed. I saw that
by God's grace Anna was able to bear fruit. I cannot describe the
wonderful manner in which I recognized this. I saw Anna as the cradle
of all mankind's salvation, and, at the same time, as a sacred
altar-vessel, opened, yet hidden behind a curtain. I recognized this
after a natural manner, and all this knowledge of mine was one and was
natural and sacred at the same time. (Anna was at that time, I think,
forty-three years old.)
She now got up, lit the lamp, prayed, and then started on her journey
to Jerusalem with her offerings. All the members of her household were
full of strange joyfulness that morning, though none but Anna knew of
the coming of the angel.
2.3 JOACHIM IS COMFORTED BY AN ANGEL AND RETURNS AGAIN TO THE TEMPLE TO
SACRIFICE.
At the same time I saw Joachim among his flocks on Mount Hermon beyond
the Jordan constantly praying God to grant his supplications. As he
watched the young lambs bleating and frolicking round their mothers, he
felt sorely distressed at having no children, but did not tell his
shepherds why he was so sad. It was near the time of the Feast of
Tabernacles, and he and his shepherds were beginning to put up the
tabernacles. Remembering his humiliation at the Temple, he had
abandoned the idea of going tip as usual to Jerusalem for the feast and
offering sacrifices, but as he was praying I saw an angel appear to
him, telling him to be of good courage and to journey to the Temple,
for his sacrifice would be accepted and his prayers granted. He would
meet his wife under the Golden Gate. Thereupon I saw Joachim joyfully
dividing his flocks and herds once more into three portions--and what
numbers of fine beasts he had! The least good he kept for himself, the
next best he sent to the Essenes, and the best of all he drove to the
Temple with his herdsmen. He arrived in Jerusalem on the fourth day of
the feast, and stayed in his usual lodgings near the Temple.
Anna arrived in Jerusalem also on the fourth day of the feast and
stayed with Zechariah's relations by the fish market. She did not meet
Joachim until the end of the feast.
Although on the previous occasion it was by a sign from above that
Joachim's offerings were rejected, I saw that the priest who had
treated him so harshly instead of comforting and consoling him was in
some way (I cannot remember how) punished by God. Now, however, the
priests had received a divine warning to accept his offerings, and I
saw that some of them, on being told of his approach with the
sacrificial beasts, went out of the Temple to meet him and accepted his
gifts. The cattle which he had brought as a gift to the Temple were not
his actual offering. The sacrifice he brought to be slaughtered
consisted of two lambs and three lively little animals, kids, I think.
I saw, too, that many of his acquaintances congratulated him on his
sacrifice being accepted. I saw that because of the feast the whole
Temple was open and decorated with garlands of fruit and greenery, and
that in one place a Tabernacle had been set up on eight detached
pillars. Joachim went from place to place in the Temple exactly as he
did before. His sacrifice was slaughtered and burnt at the usual place.
Some part of it was, however, burnt at another place, to the right, I
think, of the entrance hall with the great teaching pulpit. [27] I saw
the priests making a sacrifice of incense in the Holy Place. Lamps,
too, were lighted and lights burned on the seven-branched candlestick,
but not on all seven branches at once. I often saw that on different
occasions different branches of it were lighted. As the smoke arose
from the offering, I saw as it were a beam of light falling upon the
officiating priest in the Holy Place and at the same time on Joachim
without in the hall. There came a sudden pause in what was going on, it
seemed from astonishment and the realization of something supernatural.
Thereupon I saw that two priests went out into the hall to Joachim as
though by God's command, and led him through the side rooms up to the
golden altar of incense in the Holy Place. The priest then laid
something on the altar. This was not, I could see, separate grains of
incense; it looked like a solid lump, but I cannot remember what it
was. [28] This lump gave out a powerful and sweet smell of incense as
it was burnt upon the altar of incense before the veil of the Holy of
Holies. Then I saw the priest going away, leaving Joachim alone in the
Holy Place. While the incense-offering was being consumed I saw Joachim
in a state of ecstasy, kneeling with outstretched arms. I saw
approaching him a shining figure of an angel, such as later appeared to
Zechariah when he received the promise of the Baptist's birth. The
angel spoke to Joachim, and gave him a scroll on which I recognized,
written in shining letters, the three names Helia, Hanna, Miriam. [29]
Beside the last of these names I saw the picture of a little Ark of the
Covenant or tabernacle. Joachim fastened this scroll to his breast
under his garment. The angel told him that his unfruitfulness was no
disgrace for him, but on the contrary, an honor, for the child his wife
was to conceive was to be the immaculate fruit of God's blessing upon
him and the crowning point of the blessing of Abraham. Joachim, being
unable to grasp this, was led by the angel behind the veil hanging in
front of the Holy of Holies. Between this veil and the bars of the
screen before the Holy of Holies was a space large enough to stand in.
I saw the angel approach the Ark of the Covenant, and it seemed to me
as if he took something out of it, for I saw him hold towards Joachim a
shining globe or circle of light, bidding him breathe upon it and look
into it. (When he held the circle of light so near his face, it made me
think of a custom at our country weddings where the sacristan gives one
a little board to kiss with a head painted on it, and makes one pay
three halfpence for doing so.) Then I saw as if all kinds of pictures
appeared in the circle of light when Joachim breathed on it and that
these were visible to him. His breath had in no way dimmed the circle
of light, and the angel told him that the conception of Anna's child
would be as untarnished as this globe, which had remained shining in
spite of his having breathed on it. Thereupon I saw as if the angel
lifted the globe until it stood like an encircling halo in the air, in
which I saw, as through an opening in it, a series of pictures starting
with the Fall and ending with the Redemption of mankind. The whole
course of the world passed before my eyes as one picture merged into
another. I knew and understood it all, but I cannot reproduce the
details. Above, at the very summit, I saw the Blessed Trinity, and
below and on one side of the Trinity, I saw the Garden of Eden, with
Adam and Eve, the Fall, the promise of Redemption and all its
prototypes--Noah, the Flood, the Ark, the receiving of the blessing
through Abraham, its handing on to his firstborn Isaac, from Isaac to
Jacob, how it was taken from Jacob by the angel with whom he struggled,
how the blessing came to Joseph in Egypt and increased in glory in him
and in his wife. I saw how the sacred presence of the blessing was
removed by Moses from Egypt with relics of Joseph and his wife Asenath,
and became the Holy of Holies of the Ark of the Covenant, the presence
of the living God among His people. Then I saw the reverence paid by
God's people to this sacred thing and their ceremonies respecting it; I
saw the relationships and marriages which formed the sacred genealogy
of the Blessed Virgin's ancestry, as well as all the prototypes and
symbols of her and of Our Savior in history and in the prophets. All
this I saw in encircling symbols and also rising from the lower part of
the ring of light. I saw pictures of great cities, towers, palaces,
thrones, gates, gardens, and flowers, all strangely woven together as
it were by bridges of light; and all were being attacked and assaulted
by fierce beasts and other figures of might. These pictures all
signified how Our Blessed Lady's ancestral family, from which God was
to take Flesh and be made Man, had been led, like all that is holy, by
God's grace through many assaults and struggles. I remember, too,
having seen at a certain point in this series of pictures a garden
surrounded by a thick hedge of thorns, which a host of serpents and
other loathsome creatures attempted in vain to penetrate. I also saw a
strong tower assaulted on all sides by men-at-arms, who were falling
down from it. I saw many pictures of this kind, relating to the history
of the ancestry of the Blessed Virgin; and the bridges and passages
which joined all together signified the victory over all attempts to
disturb, hinder, or interrupt the work of salvation. It was as if by
God's compassion there had been poured into mankind, as into a muddy
stream, a pure flesh and a pure blood, and as if this had, with great
toil and difficulty, to reconstitute itself out of its scattered
elements, the whole stream striving the while to draw it into its
troubled waters; and then, as if by the countless mercies of God and
the faithful cooperation of mankind, it had at last issued forth, after
many pollutions and many cleansings, in an unfailing stream out of
which rose the Blessed Virgin, from whom the Word was made Flesh and
dwelt among us.
Among the pictures that I saw in the globe of light there were many
which occur in the litany of the Blessed Virgin. Whenever I say that
litany, I see them and recognize them and venerate them with great
devotion. The pictures in the globe unfolded themselves still further
till they reached the fulfillment of all God's compassion towards
mankind, so divided and dispersed in its fallen state, and ended, on
the side opposite the Garden of Eden, with the heavenly Jerusalem at
the foot of the Throne of God. After I had seen all these pictures, the
globe (which was really a series of pictures passing in and out of a
circle of light) disappeared. I think that all this was a communication
to Joachim of a vision revealed to him by the angel and also seen by
me. Whenever I receive such a communication, it appears in a circle of
light like a globe.
2.4 JOACHIM RECEIVES THE BLESSING FROM THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.
I saw now that the angel touched or anointed Joachim's forehead with
the tip of his thumb and forefinger, and that he gave him a shining
morsel to eat and a luminous liquid to drink from a gleaming little
chalice which he held between two fingers. It was of the shape of the
chalice at the Last Supper, but without a foot. It seemed to me, too,
that this food which he put in his mouth took the form of a little
shining ear of corn and a little shining cluster of grapes, and I
understood that thereafter every impurity and every sinful desire left
Joachim. Thereupon I saw that the angel imparted to Joachim the highest
and holiest fruit of the blessing given by God to Abraham, and
culminating, through Joseph, in the holy thing within the Ark of the
Covenant, in the presence of God among His people. He gave Joachim this
blessing in the same form as I had been shown before, except that while
the angel of benediction gave Abraham the blessing from himself, out of
his bosom as it were, he seemed to give it to Joachim from out of the
Holy of Holies. [30]
The blessing of Abraham was as it were the beginning of God's grace
given in blessing to the father of His future people so that from him
might proceed the stones for the building of His Temple. But when
Joachim received the blessing, it was as though the angel were taking
the holy benediction from the tabernacle of this Temple and delivering
it to a priest, in order that from him might be formed the holy vessel
in which the Word was to be made Flesh. All this cannot be expressed in
words, for I speak of that Holy of Holies inviolate, yet violated in
man when he sinned and fell. From my earliest youth I have very often,
in my visions from the Old Testament, seen into the Ark of the
Covenant, and have always had the impression of a complete church, but
more solemn and awe-inspiring. I saw therein not only the Tables of the
Law as the written Word of God, but also a sacramental presence of the
Living God, [31] like the roots of the wine and wheat and of the flesh
and blood of the future sacrifice of our redemption.
The grace given by this blessed presence produced, with the cooperation
of God-fearing men under the Law, that holy tree whose final blossoming
was the pure flower in which the Word became flesh and God became Man;
thus, giving us, in the New Covenant, His humanity and His divinity by
instituting the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, without which we
cannot attain eternal life. I have never known the Ark of the Covenant
without the sacramental presence of God except when it had fallen into
the hands of the enemy, at which times the holy presence was safe in
the hands of the high priest or of one of the prophets. When only the
Tables of the Law were present in the Ark of the Covenant, without the
holy treasure, it seemed to me like the Temple of the Samaritans on
Mount Garizim, or like a church of our own time which is without the
Blessed Sacrament and, instead of the Tables of the Law written by
God's hand, contains only the books of Holy Scripture imperfectly
understood by mankind.
In the Ark of the Covenant made by Moses, which stood in the Temple and
Tabernacle of Solomon, I saw this most Holy Thing of the Old Covenant
in the form of a shining circle crossed by two smaller rays of light
intersecting each other; but now, when the angel imparted the blessing
to Joachim, I saw this blessing being given to him in the form of
something shining, like a shining seed or bean in shape, which he laid
in the open breast of Joachim's garment. When the blessing was imparted
to Abraham, I saw grace being conveyed to him in the same manner, and
its virtue and efficacy remaining with him in the degree ordained by
God until he handed it over to his firstborn son Isaac, from whom it
passed to Jacob and from him, through the angel, to Joseph, and from
Joseph and his wife, with increased virtue, to the Ark of the Covenant.
I perceived that the angel bound Joachim to secrecy, and I understood
why it was that later Zechariah, the Baptist's father, had become dumb
after he had received the blessing and the promise of Elizabeth's
fruitfulness from the Angel Gabriel at the Altar of Incense. [ St. Luke
1.9-22.] It was revealed to me, that with this blessing Joachim
received the highest fruit and the true fulfillment of Abraham's
blessing, namely the blessing for the immaculate conception of the most
Holy Virgin who was to bruise the head of the serpent. The angel then
led Joachim back into the Holy Place and disappeared, upon which
Joachim sank to the ground in an ecstasy as though paralyzed. The
priests who re-entered the Holy Place found him radiant with joy. They
lifted him up reverently, and placed him outside in a seat generally
used only by priests. Here they washed his face, held some
strong-smelling substance to his nostrils, gave him to drink and in
general treated him as one does someone who has fainted. When he had
recovered, he looked young and strong, and was beaming with joy.
__________________________________________________________________
[1] The Pilgrim' is Clemens Brentano, who wrote down the visions at
Catherine Emmerich's dictation. These were communicated by her to him
on the morning of June 27th, 1819. (Tr.)
[2] It is commonly stated that such separation was required of priests
on duty, and this can he deduced from Lev. 15.18 (ceremonial
uncleanness contracted) and Lev. 22.3 (ceremonial cleanness required).
(SB)
[3] Mass of the Fourth Sunday in Advent.
[4] Mass of the Fourth Sunday in Advent.
[5] Communicated in July and August 1821. (Tr.)
[6] This was taken down in August 1821 by the writer from Catherine
Emmerich's words. In July 1840, when preparing the book for printing,
he asked a language expert for an explanation of the word Azkara, and
was told that Azkarah meant commemoration and is the name of the
portion of the unbloody sacrifice, which was burnt on the altar by the
priest to the glory of God and to remind Him of His merciful promises.
The unbloody sacrifices generally consisted of the finest wheaten flour
mixed with oil and sprinkled with incense. The priest burnt as the
Azkarah all the incense and also a handful of flour and oil (baked or
unbaked). In the case of the shewbread the incense alone was the
Azkarah ( Lev. 24.7). The Vulgate translates the word Azkarah
alternatively as memoriale', in memoriam', or in monumentum'. (CB) Lev.
24.7, literally: "And you shall place upon the shewbread pure incense,
and it shall be for the bread as a memorial (azkarah), a burnt offering
to the Lord." The other references to the word azkarah are in Lev. 2.2,
9, 16; 5.12; 6.8; Num. 5.26 in connection with the burning of a meal
offering (minhah). The connection with the Essenes remains obscure.
(SB)
[7] Hasid (pl. Hasidim), originally meaning merciful' (of God), came to
mean devout' of men, and was later in Maccabean times used to designate
a specific group of devout and observant Jews who joined the Maccabean
party in their fight for freedom ( I Macc.2.42). These Hasideans (Gk.
Asidaioi), as they were then called, are generally believed to be the
forerunners of the Pharisees (cf. Lagrange, Le Judaisme avant
Jesus-Christ, 1931, pp. 56, 272), and probably of the Essenes
(Bonsirven, Le Judaisme Palestinien, 1935, I, pp. 43, 64), both sects
being mentioned by Josephus in Maccabean times ( Ant., XIII, v, 9) .
(SB)
[8] They were called Essenoi by Josephus, Esseni by Pliny, and Essaioi
by Philo (and six times by Josephus). The origin of the name is
uncertain (cf. Lagrange, op. cit. , p. 320). Their way of life, as
described by AC, is for the most part fully attested by the
contemporary historian Josephus ( BJ , II, viii. 2-13), as well as by
Philo (Quod omnis probus liber sit , 75-88). Pliny's remarks ( Hist.
Nat. , V, 17) attribute to the Essenes an antiquity of thousands of
years'. There is no other evidence of an antiquity beyond Maccabean
times. (Most texts in Lagrange, op. cit. , pp. 307-17.) Passing
references by Josephus are in Ant., XIII, v, 9 and XVIII, i, 5. (SB)
[9] The spiritual head on Mount Horeb, Archos, it not mentioned in any
of the documents. (SB)
[10] It is well known that the Essenes refused to sacrifice animals,
but the ritual of releasing them (as described by AC) is one of the few
matters that is not documented. In Lev. 14.53 the Law prescribed the
freeing of a bird after purification from leprosy, and in 16.22 the
ritual of the scapegoat, which was to carry away all their iniquities
into at uninhabited land.' (SB)
[11] The little daughter of Catherine Emmerich's brother, who came from
the farm of Flamske near Coesfeld to visit her at Duelmen in the winter
of 1820, was seized with violent convulsions occurring every evening at
the same time and beginning with distressing choking. These convulsions
often lasted until midnight, and Catherine Emmerich, knowing as she did
the cause and significance of this and indeed of most other illnesses,
was greatly affected by her niece's sufferings. She prayed many times
to be told of a cure for them, and at last was able to describe a
certain little flower known to her which she had seen St. Luke pick and
use to cure epilepsy. As a result of her minute description of the
little flower and of the places where it grew, her physician, Dr.
Wesener (the district doctor of Duelmen), found it; she recognized the
plant which he brought her as the one she had seen, which she called
star-flower ', and he identified it as Cerastium arvense linnaei or
Holosteum caryophylleum veterum (Field Mouse-ear Chickweed). It is
remarkable that the old herbal Tabernamontani also refers to the use of
this plant for epilepsy. On the afternoon of May 22nd, 1821, Catherine
Emmerich said in her sleep: Rue [which she had used before] and
star-flower sprinkled with holy water should be pressed, and the juice
given to the child, surely that could do no harm? I have already been
told three times to squeeze it myself and give it to her.' The writer,
in the hope that she might communicate something more definite about
this cure, had, unknown to her, wrapped up at home some blossoms of
this plant in paper like a relic and pinned the little packet to her
dress in the evening. She woke up and said at once: That is not a
relic, it is the star-flower.' She kept the little flower pinned to her
dress during the night, and on the morning of May 23rd, 1821, she said:
I had no idea why I was lying last night in a field amongst nothing but
star-flowers. I saw, too, all kinds of ways in which these flowers were
used, and it was said to me, "If men knew the healing power of this
plant, it would not grow so plentifully around you." I saw pictures of
it being used in very distant ages. I saw St. Luke wandering about
picking these flowers. I saw, too, in a place like the one where Christ
fed the 5,000, many sick folk lying on these flowers in the open air,
protected by a light shelter above them. These plants were spread out
like litter for them to lie on; and arranged with the flowers in the
center under their bodies, and the stalks and leaves pointing outwards.
They were suffering from gout, convulsions, and swellings, and had
under them round cushions filled with the flowers. I saw their swollen
feet being wrapped round with these flowers, and I saw the sick people
eating the flowers and drinking water which had been poured on them.
The flowers were larger than those here. It was a picture of a long
time ago; the people and the doctors wore long white woolen robes with
girdles. I saw that the plants were always blessed before use. I saw
also a plant of the same family but more succulent and with rounder,
juicier, smoother leaves and pale blue blossoms of the same shape,
which is very efficacious in children's convulsions. It grows in better
soil and is not so common. I think it is called eyebright. I found it
once near Dernekamp. It is stronger than the other.' She then gave the
child three flowers to begin with; the second time she was to have
five. She said: I see the child's nature, but cannot rightly describe
it; inside she is like a torn garment, which needs a new piece of stuff
for each tear.' (CB)
[12] These were Catherine Emmerich's words on August 16th, 1821. The
names are here written down as the writer heard them pronounced by her
lips, and also her explanation noble mother'. When the writer read this
passage to a language expert in 1840, the latter said that it was
indeed true that Em romo means a noble mother. (CB) Em ramah could mean
noble mother', though the adjective ram , usually meaning materially
high' or else proud', has no obvious parallel in a proper name, except
perhaps in Amram (the father of Moses), which may mean noble uncle'.
(SB)
[13] She unquestionably meant that these herbs were the same as those
mentioned by Eusebius in his ecclesiastical history, Book VII, Chapter
18, which he says grew round the statue of Jesus Christ put up by the
woman of Caesarea Philippi, who was cured of the issue of blood. The
plants acquired the power of healing all kinds of sicknesses as soon as
they had grown high enough to touch the hem of the statue's garment.
Eusebius says that this plant is of an unknown species. Catherine
Emmerich had spoken before of the statue and of these plants. (CB)
[14] In July 1840, some twenty years after this communication, as this
book was being prepared for the press, the writer learnt from a
language expert that the cabalistic book Zohar contains several
references to this matter. (CB) The Zohar is a rabbinic book, claiming
descent from Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai (second century), in the form of a
commentary on the Pentateuch, interpreting it throughout, in an
enigmatic and esoteric style, according to a mystical sense. The Zohar
first became known through the 13 ^th-century Rabbi Moses de Leon, who
has often been accused of fabricating the whole thing. Present-day
opinion, however, suspends judgment, while emphasizing that the Zohar
shows evidence of being a compilation of texts and fragments whose
composition probably extended over many centuries, and which is likely
to enshrine teaching of the greatest antiquity. The Zohar is one of the
principal sources of spiritual interpretation among the Jews, and its
main theme may be said to be the significance of every detail in sacred
history, and the symbolic reflection in this world of the eternal
realities of heaven. With regard to its connection with the statements
of AC, see further n. 34, p. 26 . (SB)
[15] Catherine Emmerich pronounced these and all other name-sounds with
her Low-German accent and often hesitatingly. Her pronunciation, she
said, only resembled the real names, and it is impossible to be sure
how correctly or incorrectly they have been written down. It is all the
more astonishing to find elsewhere long afterwards similar names for
the same persons. The following is an instance. Several years after
Catherine Emmerich's death the writer found in the Encomium trium
Mariarum Bertaudi, Petragorici, Paris, 1529, and in particular in the
treatise De cognatione divi Joannis Baptistae cum filiabus et nepotibus
beatae Annae, lib. III, f. lii, etc., attached to it, that St. Cyril,
the third General of the Carmelite Order, who died in 1224, mentions in
a work concerning the ancestors of St. Anne similar visions of
branches, buds, and flowers seen by the prophet of whom counsel was
sought. He further states that Stolanus was also called Agarim or
Garizi, names which reproduce sounds recognizable in the
above-mentioned Garescha or Sarziri. On the other hand, in this account
it is a Carmelite on Mount Carmel instead of an Essene on Mount Horeb
of whom counsel is sought. Seventeen years after the death of Catherine
Emmerich the writer was reading, on the feast of Corpus Christi, 1840,
the life of Our Lady's holy mother in the Actis Sanctorum, Tom. VI,
Julii, where Joannes Eckius in his homily on St. Anne says that
Stolanus is called by tradition Stolan, and that the Roman Breviary of
1536 and several Breviaries printed before the reign of Pius V mention
a daughter Gaziri, while others call her Garzim. A philological friend
who was kind enough to read my proofs, observed: It is surprising that
the names Gaziri, Garzi (the final m has been added), Garsha or
Garescha (all three forms are correct, though formed from different
verbs) all agree in meaning "outcast", and that Agari(m) in Arabic also
conveys the idea of flight and banishment. Stolanus in Greek contains
the idea of wandering. Sarssir means starling and thus also signifies a
wandering bird.' (CB) The Hebrew root g-r-sh and the corresponding
Arabic root g-sh-r convey the idea of banishment. The Hebrew ger (and
its Arabic equivalent) means a stranger'. The Greek stolos means a
journey' (cf . apostolos ). Zurzur is the Arabic for a starling', being
derived apparently from the bird's noise. (SB)
[16] It is certainly true that the writers who follow tradition
generally give Emerentia as the mother of St. Anne; but they give the
wife of Stolanus as Emerentia, whereas Catherine Emmerich calls her
Emorun. According to tradition, Emerentia, the wife of Stolanus, bore
Ismeria, the mother of Elizabeth, and Anna, the mother of the Blessed
Virgin. Yet according to Catherine Emmerich's account, Anna is the
granddaughter, not the daughter, of Stolanus. If this is a mistake of
hers, the reason for it may be that the humble visionary has confused
her own visions with the account which she had heard from her childhood
of the traditional descent of St. Anne. The name Emerentia is perhaps
nothing more than the Latinized form of the name (heard by her) of
Emorun. But being either ignorant or forgetful of this, and having
always heard of the names Emerentia and Ismeria as being traditionally
in close association with Stolanus as the nearest relations of Anna
before her marriage, she may have described them as daughters of
Stolanus. At the same time it was very noticeable that she never
confused any of the countless names which came to her ears except in
extreme illness and distress. We are, however, inclined to suppose that
there must be some error here, for tradition in general mentions St.
Elizabeth as being a niece of St. Anne's, whereas according to
Catherine Emmerich's account Elizabeth is the niece of Anna's mother,
which would seem to make Elizabeth almost older than Anna, who is
called a late-born child. Since the writer cannot explain the error
which may possibly have crept in, he begs the kind reader to accept it
with patience and thus make amends for the writer's lack of that
Christian virtue in his difficult and often interrupted task of
compiling an account of these visions. (CB)
[17] The Apocryphal Gospels tell us nothing about the ancestors of Our
Lady, except the names of Joachim and Anne, which are also attested by
the liturgy and the calendar. Nat . Mar. I further states that Joachim
was from Nazareth and Anne from Bethlehem, and Ps-Matt. I that Anne's
father was called Achar. Apart from these, AC's statements are all
independent. (SB)
[18] Most of AC's geographical references are to features traceable on
the map, even though some, such as the Valley of Zabulon here, are not
specifically mentioned in the Bible. (SB)
[19] Matthat, son of Levi, is named in Luke's genealogy (3.23), and see
further n. 41, p. 18 . (SB)
[20] Cf. infra , n. 29, p. 22 , and n. 41, p. 32 .
[21] The Apocryphal Gospels (Protev. 2, Ps-Matt. I , Nat. Mar. I)
represent Anna as childless until the conception of Mary. Protev. 2
also relates an incident (though of a different nature) with a
handmaid. (SB)
[22] The reader must not be disconcerted by Catherine Emmerich's
references (here and subsequently) to events which may not yet have
been mentioned in her account. It must be remembered that the visions
from the story of the Blessed Virgin, here given in chronological
order, were vouchsafed to Catherine Emmerich year by year on the
various church festivals with which these visions were connected; so
that now when relating in July and August 1821, at the time of the
feasts of St. Anne and St. Joachim, her visions of the life of Our
Lady's parents, she is referring (in order to make herself more
comprehensible) to something which she had already seen in previous
years in November on the occasion of the feast of Our Lady's
Presentation at the Temple. (CB)
[23] Cf. 3 Kings 7.48, 49. (SB)
[24] The priest Reuben appears in Protev. I , Ps-Matt. 2, and in Nat.
Mar. 2 is named Issachar. (SB)
[25] This Manahem appears in no document. (SB)
[26] The story of Anna's consolation by the angel, and the appointment
of a rendezvous at the Golden Gate is found in Protev. 4, Ps-Mat. 3,
Nat. Mar. 3. (SB)
[27] This statement is confirmed by the following: According to Jewish
tradition a portion of the burnt offering had to be burnt, not on the
altar, but near it and to the east, on the so-called ash-heap. This
portion was the sinew of the thigh, which in Jacob's wrestling with the
Angel withered up on being touched by the latter (forthwith it shrank',
Gen. 32.25). See also Gen. 32.32. (CB) Gen. 32.32 states that the
Israelites eat not of the sinew which shrank', but there is no
available subsequent legislation about this matter. (SB)
[28] It was doubtless a mixture, melted together, of the ingredients
required by Jewish tradition for the daily incense-offering, namely
myrrh, cassia, spikenard, saffron, sweet-scented reed, cinnamon,
costus, sea-lavender, thrift, galbanum, and incense, mixed with pure
salt. (CB) Exod. 30.34-38 prescribed four elements in the preparation
of incense. Later rabbinic tradition increased these (as CB notes), and
by the time of Christ thirteen elements were used, as Josephus relates
(BJ, V, v, 5). (SB)
[29] The writer was at the time unaware that these three names were
only other forms of Joachim, Anna, and Mary. His later discovery of
this proof of the accuracy of Catherine Emmerich's version of the names
was a striking testimony to the authenticity of her visions. (CB) See
infra, n. 41, p. 32 , on the identification of Joachim and Heli. The
name Joachim (Yehoyaqim) means The Lord shall make to stand (or rise)'
(e.g. IV Kings 23.34). The name Helia (presumably Heli-yah) would mean
My strength is the Lord', but does not occur in the Bible. It is,
however, maintained in Cath. Enc., art. Virgin Mary', p. 464, E d, that
Elia (Helia) is but an abbreviation of the name Eliacim (Elyaqim),
which, using the other divine name, means God shall make to stand (or
rise)', and, indeed, in IV Kings 23.34 the name of King Eliacim was
changed by Pharaoh to Joakim (Yoyaqim). (SB)
[30] Catherine Emmerich, who in communicating her many and various
visions from the Old Testament often spoke in great detail of the Ark
of the Covenant, never said that after the Babylonian captivity the
first Ark of the Covenant with all its contents was placed in the
rebuilt Temple or later in the Temple restored by Herod. She did,
however, state that there was a restored Ark in the Holy of Holies of
the Temple, I in which were still preserved a few remains of the sacred
contents of the first Ark of the Covenant, some of which she saw in the
possession of the Essenes and venerated by them. (CB) Josephus (BJ, V,
v, 5) plainly states that there was nothing at all' I in the Holy of
Holies in Herod's Temple. (SB)
[31] The reader need not be scandalized by the expression sacramental
presence of God', for Holy Writ clearly declares that God was present
above the Ark of the Covenant in a mysterious and visible manner. (CB)
__________________________________________________________________
II. THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
1. JOACHIM AND ST. ANNE MEET BENEATH THE GOLDEN GATE.
It was a warning from on high that had led Joachim into the Holy Place,
and it was by a similar inspiration that he was brought into a
subterranean passage which belonged to the consecrated part of the
Temple and ran under it and under the Golden Gate. I have been told
what was the meaning and origin of this passage when the Temple was
built, and also what it was used for, but I have no clear recollection
of this. Some religious observance relating to the blessing and
reconciliation of the unfruitful was, I think, connected with this
passage. In certain circumstances people were brought into it for rites
of purification, expiation, absolution, and the like. [32] Joachim was
led by priests near the slaughtering-place through a little door into
this passage. The priests turned back, but Joachim continued along the
passage, which gradually sloped downwards. Anna had also come to the
Temple with her maidservant, who was carrying the doves for sacrifice
in wicker baskets. She had handed over her offering and had revealed to
a priest that she had been bidden by an angel to meet her husband under
the Golden Gate. I now saw that she was led by priests, accompanied by
some venerable women (among whom I think was the prophetess Anna),
through an entrance on the other side into the consecrated passage,
where her companions left her. I had a very wonderful view of what this
passage was like. Joachim went through a little door; the passage
sloped downwards, and was at first narrow but became broader
afterwards. The walls were of glistening gold and green, and a reddish
light shone in from above. I saw beautiful pillars like twisted trees
and vines. After passing through about a third of the passage Joachim
came to a place in the midst of which stood a pillar in the form of a
palm tree with hanging leaves and fruits. Here he was met by Anna,
radiant with happiness. They embraced each other with holy joy, and
each told the other their good tidings. They were in a state of ecstasy
and enveloped in a cloud of light. I saw this light issuing from a
great host of angels, who were carrying the appearance of a high
shining tower and hovering above the heads of Anna and Joachim. The
form of this tower was the same as I see in pictures, from the litany
of the Blessed Virgin, of the Tower of David, the Tower of Ivory, and
so forth. I saw that this tower seemed to disappear between Anna and
Joachim, who were enveloped in a glory of brightness. I understood
that, as a result of the grace here given, the conception of Mary was
as pure as all conceptions would have been but for the Fall. I had at
the same time an indescribable vision. The heavens opened above them,
and I saw the joy of the Holy Trinity and of the angels, and their
participation in the mysterious blessing here bestowed on Mary's
parents. Anna and Joachim returned, praising God, to the exit under the
Golden Gate: towards the end the passage sloped upwards. They came into
a kind of chapel under a beautiful and high arch, where many lights
were burning. Here they were received by priests who led them away. The
part of the Temple above which was the hall of the Sanhedrin lay over
the middle of the subterranean passage; above this end of it were, I
think, dwellings of priests whose duty it was to look after the
vestments. Joachim and Anna now came to a kind of bay at the outermost
edge of the Temple hill, overlooking the valley of Josaphat, where the
path could no longer go straight on but branched to right and left.
After they had visited another priest's house, I saw Joachim and Anna
and their servants starting on their journey home. On their arrival at
Nazareth, Joachim, after a joyful meal, gave food to many poor people
and distributed generous alms. I saw how full he and Anna were of joy
and fervor and gratitude to God when they thought of His compassion
towards them; I often saw them praying together with tears.
It was explained to me here that the Blessed Virgin was begotten by her
parents in holy obedience and complete purity of heart, and that
thereafter they lived together in continence in the greatest devoutness
and fear of God. I was at the same time clearly instructed how
immeasurably the holiness of children was encouraged by the purity,
chastity, and continence of their parents and by their resistance to
all unclean temptations; and how continence after conception preserves
the fruit of the womb from many sinful impulses. In general, I was
given an overflowing abundance of knowledge about the roots of
deformity and sin.
2. SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
[Here follow various visions which Catherine Emmerich communicated at
different times in the course of her yearly meditations during the
octave of the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Though they do not
directly continue the story of the Blessed Virgin's life, yet they
throw a remarkable light on the mystery of her election, preparation,
and veneration as the vessel of grace. As these visions were related by
Catherine Emmerich in the midst of much suffering and many
interruptions, it is not surprising if they are somewhat fragmentary in
character.]
2.1 THE ANGELS ARE SHOWN THE RESTORATION OF MANKIND.
I saw in a wonderful picture that God showed the angels how it was His
will to restore mankind after the Fall. At first sight I did not
understand this picture, but soon it became quite clear to me. I saw
the Throne of God and the Holy Trinity, and at the same time a movement
within that Trinity. I saw the nine choirs of angels, and how God
announced to them in what manner it was His will to restore the fallen
human race. I saw an inexpressible joy among the angels over this. I
was now shown in a number of symbolic pictures the unfolding of God's
designs for the salvation of mankind. I saw these pictures appearing
among the nine choirs of angels and following each other in a kind of
historical sequence. I saw the angels helping to make these pictures,
protecting and defending them. I cannot now remember for certain the
order in which they appeared, but will tell in God's name what I can
still recollect. I saw a mountain as of precious stones appear before
the Throne of God; it grew and spread. It was in terraces, like a
throne; then it changed into the shape of a tower--a tower which
enshrined every treasure of the spirit and every gift of grace and was
surrounded by the nine choirs of angels. At one side of this tower vine
tendrils and ears of corn, intertwined like the fingers of folded
hands, seemed to be streaming down from the edge of a golden cloud. I
cannot remember at what exact moment in the whole picture I saw this. I
saw in the sky a figure like a virgin which passed into the tower and
as it were melted into it. The tower was very broad and was flat at the
top; it seemed to have an opening at the back through which the virgin
passed into it. This was not the Blessed Virgin as she is in time, but
as she is in eternity, in God. I saw the appearance of her being formed
before the face of the Holy Trinity, just as when one breathes, a
little cloud is formed before one's mouth. [33] I also saw something
going forth from the Holy Trinity towards the tower. At this moment of
the picture I saw a vessel like a ciborium being formed among the
choirs of angels. The angels all joined in giving this vessel the form
of a tower surrounded by many pictures full of significance. Beside it
stood two figures joining hands behind it. This spiritual vessel went
on increasing in size, beauty, and richness. Then I saw something
proceed from God and pass through all nine choirs of angels; it seemed
to me like a little shining holy cloud which became more and more
distinct as it approached the sacramental vessel which it finally
entered. But in order that I should recognize this to be a real and
essential blessing of God, conferring the grace of a pure and sinless
line from generation to generation (like the cultivation of some plant
in all its purity), I finally saw this blessing in the shape of a
shining bean, enter the ciborium, which then passed into the tower.
[34] I saw the angels actively taking part in the showing forth of
these visions. There rose, however, from the depths below a series of
what seemed to be false visions, for I saw the angels combating these
and thrusting them aside. Many of these false visions I have forgotten,
but here is what I still remember about them.
I saw a church rise up from below, almost in the same form in which the
holy universal Church always appears to me when I see it not as a
particular building but as the Holy Catholic Church in general. There
was, however, this difference, that the latter has a tower over the
entrance and the church rising from the depths had not. It was a very
large church but a false one. The angels thrust it aside so that it
stood all crooked. I also saw a great bowl, with a lip on one side;
which tried to enter the false church but was also thrust aside. I then
saw the angels preparing a chalice, of the shape of the Chalice of the
Last Supper, which passed into the tower entered by the virgin. I also
saw a lower tower or building appear, with many doors, through which I
saw crowds of people passing, among them figures like Abraham and the
Children of Israel. I think this had reference to the slavery in Egypt.
I saw a round terraced tower arise, which also had reference to Egypt.
This was thrust back and made to stand crooked. I also saw an Egyptian
temple arise, like the one on the ceiling of which I had seen the
Egyptian priests, idolaters, fastening the image of a winged virgin
after receiving from Elijah' messenger communications of a prophetic
vision of the Blessed Virgin. I will speak of his vision later; it was
seen by the prophet on Mount Carmel. This temple, too, was thrust back
and made to stand crooked.
I then saw between the choirs of angels, to the right of the holy
tower, a branch which put forth buds, making a whole ancestral tree of
little male and female figures holding each other's hands. This family
tree ended with the appearance of a little crib with a little child in
it. The crib was of the same shape as the one I had seen exposed in the
temple of the Three Kings. [35] Then I saw a beautiful great church
appear.
The way in which all these pictures were united with each other and yet
melted one into the other was very wonderful. The whole vision was
indescribably rich and full of significance. Even the hateful, evil,
false appearances of towers, chalices, and churches, which were thrust
aside, were made to assist in the unfolding of the scheme of salvation.
[When recounting these scattered visions, she came back again and again
to the unspeakable joy of the angels. There was no real conclusion to
these fragmentary visions, which seem to have been a series of symbolic
pictures of the history of our salvation. She added: First of all I saw
the emblems of the work of redemption among the choirs of angels, and
then a series of pictures from Adam down to the Babylonian captivity.']
2.2 AN EGYPTIAN REPRESENTATION OF MARY PRIOR TO ELIJAH.
I saw something happening in Egypt very long ago which had a symbolic
application to the Blessed Virgin. It must have been long before the
days of Elijah. I also saw something in Egypt, in his lifetime, which I
will tell later.
I saw a place in Egypt, much farther away from the Promised Land than
On or Heliopolis, where on an island in the river an idol stood. This
idol had a head which was something between that of a man and of an ox,
with three horns, one in the middle of the forehead. The figure was
hollow, and had openings in its body in which sacrifices were burnt as
in an oven. Its feet were like claws, and in one hand it held a plant
like a lily which grows out of the water and opens and shuts with the
sun. In the other hand the idol held a plant like ears of corn with
quite thick grains; I think it grows out of the water too, but am not
quite sure of this. After a great victory a temple had been built in
honor of this idol, which was now to be consecrated, and all
preparations had been made for the sacrifice. But as the people were on
their way to the island I saw something wonderful happen. Near the idol
I saw a dark and dreadful apparition, and then I saw a great angel
descending upon it from heaven like the one who appeared to St. John
the Evangelist in the Apocalypse. This angel struck the dark figure in
the back with his staff. The demon, writhing, was forced to speak out
of the mouth of the idol, warning the people to consecrate the temple,
not in honor of it but of a virgin who was to appear upon earth and to
whom thanks for their victory were due. I cannot remember the exact
circumstances, but I saw that the people set up in the new temple the
image of a winged virgin, which was fixed to the wall. The virgin as
she flew was bending down over a little ship in which lay a child in
swaddling clothes. The ship stood on a little pillar, with a leafy top
like a tree. One of her outstretched hands had a balance hanging from
it, and I saw two figures beside her on the wall who were putting
something into each scale of the balance. The little ship in which the
child lay was like that in which Moses lay on the Nile, but it was
uncovered, whereas Moses' one was entirely closed in except for a small
opening at the top.
2.3 ELIJAH'S VISION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
I saw the whole Promised Land withered and parched with drought, and I
saw Elijah ascending Mount Carmel with two servants to beseech God to
give rain. First they climbed over a high ridge, then up steps of rock
to a terrace, then up many more rock steps, and so reached a great open
space with a hill of rocks in its midst in which was a cave. Elijah
climbed up steps to the top of this rocky hill. He left the servants at
the edge of the open space and bade one of them look towards the Sea of
Galilee, which had, however, a terrible aspect, for it was quite dried
up and was full of hollows and caverns with rotting bodies of animals
in the swampy ground. Elijah crouched down on the ground with his head
sunk between his knees, and covering himself in his mantle prayed
fervently to God and cried seven times to his servant to know whether
he did not see a cloud rising out of the lake. At his seventh call I
saw the cloud rise up, and saw the servant announce it to Elijah, who
sent him to King Ahab. I saw a white eddy form itself in the middle of
the lake; out of this eddy rose a little black cloud like a fist, which
opened and spread itself out. In this little cloud I saw from the first
a little shining figure like a virgin. I saw, too, that Elijah
perceived this figure in the spreading cloud. The head of this virgin
was encircled with rays; she stretched her arms out in the form of a
cross, and had a triumphal wreath hanging from one hand. Her long robe
seemed to be tied beneath her feet. She appeared as if hovering above
the whole Promised Land in the cloud as it spread ever farther. I saw
how this cloud divided into different parts and fell in eddying showers
of crystal dew on certain holy and consecrated places inhabited by
devout men and those who were praying for salvation. I saw these
showers edged with the colors of the rainbow and the blessing taking
shape in their midst like a pearl in its shell. It was explained to me
that this was a symbolic picture, and that the favored places watered
by the showers from the cloud were in fact those which had had their
share in contributing to the coming of the Blessed Virgin.
I saw as well a prophetic vision of how Elijah, while the cloud was
rising, discerned four mysteries relating to the Blessed Virgin.
Unfortunately I have forgotten the details, and much else, as a result
of disturbances and interruptions. Elijah discerned in the cloud, among
other things, that Mary would be born in the seventh age of the world;
hence his sevenfold call to his servant. He saw, too, from what family
she was to come. On one side of the country he saw a low but very broad
family tree, and on the other a very high one, broad at the base but
tapering towards its top, which bent down into the first tree. He
understood all this, and discerned in this way four mysteries relating
to the future mother of the Savior. Hereupon I had a vision of how
Elijah enlarged the cave above which he had prayed and how he made the
Sons of the Prophets into a more regular organization. Some of these
were always praying in this cave for the coming of the Blessed Virgin
and paying her honor in anticipation of her future birth. I saw that
this devotion to the Blessed Virgin continued here uninterrupted, that
the Essenes carried it on during Mary's earthly life, and that
subsequently it was perpetuated up to our time by hermits and the
Carmelite Order which eventually succeeded them. [36]
2.4 AN EXPOUNDING ON ELIJAH'S VISION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
[When Catherine Emmerich communicated later her visions of the time of
John the Baptist, she saw the same vision of Elijah with reference to
the state of the country and of mankind which prevailed in St. John's
time. We therefore reproduce from this what follows as explanatory of
what she has said above.]
I saw a great commotion in the Temple at Jerusalem, much consultation,
much writing with reed pens, and messengers being sent about the
country. Rain was besought from God with cries and supplications, and
search was made everywhere for Elijah. I saw Elijah receiving food and
drink in the wilderness from the angel, who held a vessel like a little
shining barrel with white and red diagonal stripes. I saw all Elijah'
dealings with Ahab, the sacrifice on Mount Carmel, the slaughter of the
priests of Baal, Elijah' prayer for rain and the gathering of the
clouds. I saw as well as the dryness of the earth, a great dryness and
failing of good fruit amongst men. I saw that by his prayer Elijah
called forth the blessing of which the cloud was the form, and that he
guided and distributed its showers in accordance with inner visions;
otherwise it might perhaps have become a destroying deluge. He asked
his servant seven times for news of the cloud; this signifies the seven
generations or ages of the world which must go by before the real
blessing (of which this cloud of blessing was but a symbol) took root
in Israel. Elijah himself saw in the ascending cloud an image of the
Blessed Virgin, and discerned several mysteries relating to her birth
and descent. [37]
I saw that Elijah' prayer called down the blessing at first in the form
of dew. Layers of cloud sank down which formed themselves into eddies
with rainbow edges; these finally dissolved into falling drops. I saw
therein an association with the manna in the desert, but the manna lay
thick and crisp on the ground in the morning like fleeces, and could be
rolled up and taken away. I saw this whirling eddy of dew floating
along the banks of the Jordan, but dropping down only at certain
notable places, not everywhere. In particular at Ainon, opposite Salem,
and at the places where baptisms took place later, I clearly saw these
shining eddies floating downwards. I asked what the colored edges of
these dew eddies portended, and was given as an explanation the example
of the mother-of-pearl shells in the sea which also bore edges of
shining color; they expose themselves to the sun, absorbing the light
and cleansing it of color until the pure white pearls take form in
their centers. It was shown to me, too, that this dew and the rain that
followed it was something much more than the ordinary refreshing of the
earth by moisture. I was given clearly to understand that, without this
dew, the coming of the Blessed Virgin would have been delayed by more
than a hundred years; whereas, after this softening and blessing of the
earth, nourishment and refreshment were imparted to the human beings
who lived on the fruits of the soil; the blessing communicated itself
to their bodies and ennobled them. This fructifying dew was associated
with the coming of the Messiah, for I saw its rays penetrating
generation after generation until they reached the substance of the
body of the Blessed Virgin. I cannot describe this. Sometimes, on the
colored edge that I have mentioned I saw emerge one or more pearls
having the likeness of a human figure which disappeared in a breath to
unite itself with others of these pearls. The picture of the pearl
shell was a symbol of Mary and Jesus.
I saw, too, that just as the earth and mankind were parched and panting
for rain, so, at a later time, was the spirit of man thirsting for the
baptism of John; so that the whole picture was not only a prophecy of
the coming of the Blessed Virgin, but also of the state of the people
at the time of the Baptist. In the first instance there was the alarm
of the people, their longing for rain and their search for Elijah,
followed, nevertheless, by their persecution of him; and later there
was a like yearning of the people for baptism and penance, and again
the lack of comprehension by the synagogue and its messages to John.
2.5 A REPRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN EGYPT.
In Egypt I saw the message of salvation being announced in the
following manner. I saw that by God's command Elijah sent messages to
summon devout families scattered about in three regions to the east,
north, and south. For this purpose he sent forth three of the sons of
the prophets, but only after asking a sign from God that he had decided
rightly, for it was a difficult and dangerous mission, and he had to
choose messengers whose prudence would lessen the danger of their being
murdered. One traveled northwards, one eastwards, and the third
southwards. This last one had to pass through a considerable part of
Egyptian territory, where the Israelites were in particular danger of
being killed. This messenger took the way followed by the Holy Family
on their flight into Egypt. I think, too, that he passed near On, where
the Child Jesus took refuge. I saw him come to an idolatrous temple on
a great plain; in this temple, which was surrounded by a meadow and by
many other buildings, they adored a living bull. They had an image of a
bull and many other idols in their temple; their sacrifices were
gruesome and they slaughtered deformed children. They seized the son of
the prophet and brought him before the priests. Fortunately, the latter
were very inquisitive; otherwise, they might easily have murdered him.
They questioned him as to whence he came and what brought him there,
and he answered without hesitation, telling them how a virgin would be
born from whom the salvation of the world was to come, and that then
all their idols would fall in pieces. [38]
They were amazed at his announcement, seemed greatly moved thereby, and
let him go unharmed. I saw them taking counsel together thereafter, and
having the image of a virgin constructed and fixed in the middle of the
temple roof. This image [See Figure 4], represented as floating
downwards at full length, had a headdress like the idols, so many of
which lie in rows there, half like a woman, half like a lion. On the
top of the head was something like a little high vessel or bushel of
fruit; the elbows were close to the body, while the forearms were held
out in a gesture as it were of withdrawal and repulse. In her hands
were ears of corn. She had three breasts; a large one in the middle,
with two smaller ones on each side of it but lower down. The lower part
of the body was clothed in a long dress, and from the feet, which were
comparatively small and pointed, hung tassels or something of the sort.
She had as it were wings on her arms both above and below the elbows;
these wings seemed to be made of delicate feathers spreading out on
each side like rays and intertwined with each other. Feathers ran
crosswise down both thighs and over the middle of the body to the feet.
The dress had no folds. They venerated this image and sacrificed to it,
begging it not to destroy their God Apis and their other gods. At the
same time they continued their gruesome idolatry as before, except that
they always began by invoking this virgin. In making this image they
had, I believe, followed the indications given them by the son of the
prophet in his account of the vision which Elijah had seen.
Figure 4. Egyptian idol of the blessed virgin Mary constructed after
receiving Elijah's prophesy. [39]
2.6 MARY PROCLAIMED TO PIOUS PAGANS.
I saw also that by the great mercy of God it was announced to certain
God-fearing heathens that the Messiah was to be born from a virgin in
Judea. The ancestors of the three holy kings, the star-worshippers of
Chaldea, received this message by the appearance of a picture in a star
or in the sky, by which they made prophecies. I saw traces of these
prophetic images of the Blessed Virgin in the pictures in their temple,
which I have described in my account of Jesus' visit to them after the
raising of Lazarus in the last quarter of the third year of His
ministry.
2.7 THE LIFE STORY OF TOBIAS. AN ALLEGORY OF THE COMING OF SALVATION.
[On the feast of the Archangel Michael in September 1821, Catherine
Emmerich recounted, amongst other fragments of a vision of the holy
angels, the following fragment of the story of Tobias, whom she had
seen with the Archangel Raphael as his guide.]
I saw many things from the life of Tobias, which is an allegory of the
history of the coming of salvation in Israel; not an imaginative
allegory, but one which actually happened and was lived. It was shown
to me that Sarah, the wife of the young Tobias, was a prototype of St.
Anne. I will relate as much as I can remember of the many things that
happened, but shall not be able to reproduce them in their right order.
The elder Tobias was an emblem of the God-fearing branch of the Jewish
race, those who were hoping for the Messiah. The swallow, the messenger
of spring, indicated the near approach of salvation. The blindness of
old Tobias signified that he was to beget no more children, and was to
devote himself entirely to prayer and meditation; it signified also the
faithful, though dim, longing and waiting for the light of salvation
and the uncertainty as to whence it was to come. Tobias' quarrelsome
wife represented the empty and harassing forms into which the Pharisees
had converted the Law. The kid which she had brought home in lieu of
wages had, as Tobias warned her, really been stolen, and had for that
reason been handed on to her in return for very little. Tobias knew the
people concerned and all about it, but his wife only mocked him. This
mockery also indicated the contempt of the Pharisees and formalists for
the devout Jews and Essenes and the relationship between the two
groups, but I cannot now remember how this was.
The Archangel Raphael was not telling an untruth when he said that he
was Azarias, the son of Ananias, for the general meaning of these words
is: The help of the Lord out of the cloud of the Lord'. [40] This
angel, the companion of young Tobias, represented God's watchfulness
over the Blessed Virgin's descent through her ancestors and His
preservation and guidance of the Blessing through the generations which
preceded her conception. In the prayer of the Elder Tobias, and of
Sarah, the daughter of Raguel (I saw both these prayers being brought
by the angels at one and the same time before the Throne of God and
there granted), I recognized the supplications of the God-fearing
Israelites and of the Daughters of Sion for the coming of salvation, as
well as the simultaneous prayers of Joachim and Anna, separated from
each other, for the promised offspring. The blindness of the elder
Tobias and his wife's mockery of him also symbolized Joachim's
childlessness and the rejection of his sacrifice at the Temple. The
seven husbands of Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, who were destroyed by
Satan, came to their end through sensuality; for Sarah had made a vow
to give herself only to a chaste and God-fearing man. These seven men
symbolized those whose entry into Jesus' ancestry according to the
flesh would have hindered the coming of the Blessed Virgin, and thus
the advent of salvation. There was also a reference to certain
unblessed periods in the history of salvation and to the suitors whom
Anna had to reject that she might be united to Joachim, the father of
Mary. The maidservant's reviling of Sarah ( Tob. 3.7) symbolized the
reviling by the heathen and by the godless and unbelieving among the
Jews against the expectation of the Messiah, for whose coming all
God-fearing Jews were, like Sarah, inspired to pray with
ever-increasing fervor. It was also an image of the reviling of Anna by
her maidservant, whereafter that holy mother prayed with such fervor
that her prayer was granted. The fish which was about to swallow young
Tobias symbolized the powers of darkness, heathendom, and sin striving
against the coming of salvation, and also Anna's long barrenness. The
killing of the fish, the removal of its heart, liver, and gall, and the
burning of this by Tobias and Sarah to make smoke--all these symbolized
the victory over the demon of fleshly lusts who had strangled Sarah's
seven husbands, as well as the good works and continence of Joachim and
Anna, by which they had obtained the blessing of holy fruitfulness. I
also saw therein a deep significance relating to the Blessed Sacrament,
but can no longer explain this. The gall of the fish, which restored
the sight of Tobias' father, symbolized the bitterness of the suffering
through which the chosen ones among the Jews came to know and share in
salvation; it indicated also the entry of the light into the darkness
brought about by Jesus' bitter sufferings from His birth onwards.
I received many explanations of this kind, and saw many details of the
history of Tobias. I think the descendants of young Tobias were among
the ancestors of Joachim and Anna. The elder Tobias had other children
who were not godly. Sarah had three daughters and four sons. Her first
child was a daughter. The elder Tobias lived to see his grandchildren.
2.8 THE GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE MESSIAH.
I saw the line of the descent of the Messiah proceeding from David and
dividing into two branches. The right-hand one went through Solomon
down to Jacob, the father of St. Joseph. I saw the figures of all St.
Joseph's ancestors named in the Gospel on this right-hand branch of the
descent from David through Solomon. This branch has the greater
significance of the two; I saw the line of descent issuing from the
mouths of the separate figures in streams of white colorless light. The
figures were taller and looked more spiritual than those of the
left-hand line. Each one held a long flower stem with hanging leaves
like those of palms: this stem was crowned with a great bell-shaped
flower shaped like a lily and having five stamens, yellow at the top,
from which a fine yellow dust was scattered. These flowers differed in
size, vigor, and beauty. The flower borne by Joseph, the foster-father
of Jesus, was the most beautiful and purest of all, with fresh and
abundant petals. Halfway down this ancestral tree were three rejected
shoots, blackened and withered. In this line through Solomon there were
several gaps separating its fruits more widely from each other. The
right-hand and left-hand branches met several times, and they crossed
each other at a point a few generations before the end. I was given an
explanation about the higher significance of the line of descent
through Solomon. It had in it more of the spirit and less of the flesh,
and had some of the significance belonging to Solomon himself. I cannot
express this.
The left-hand line of descent went from David through Nathan down to
Heli, which is the real name of Joachim, Mary's father, for he did not
receive the name of Joachim till later, just as Abram was not called
Abraham until later. I forget the reason, but it will perhaps come back
to me. In my visions I often hear Jesus called after the flesh a son of
Heli. [41]
I saw this whole line from David through Nathan flowing at a lower
level: it generally issued from the navels of the separate figures. I
saw it colored red, yellow, or white, but never blue. Here and there
were stains; then the stream became clear again. The figures upon it
were smaller than those of the line through Solomon. They carried
smaller branches which hung down sideways and had little yellow-green
leaves with serrated edges; their branches were crowned with reddish
buds of the color of wild roses. These were always closed; they were
not flower buds but the beginnings of fruits. A double row of little
twigs hung down on the same side as the serrated leaves. At a point
three or four generations above Heli or Joachim, the two lines crossed
each other and rose up, ending with the Blessed Virgin. [42] At the
point of crossing I think I already saw the blood of the Blessed Virgin
beginning to shine in the stream of descent.
St. Anne descended on her father's side from Levi, and on her mother's
side, from Benjamin. I saw in a vision the Ark of the Covenant being
borne by her ancestors with great piety and devotion; I saw them
receiving rays of blessing from it which extended to their descendants,
to Anna and to Mary. I always saw many priests in the house of Anna's
parents, and also in Joachim's house; this was the result of the
relationship with Zechariah and Elizabeth.
2.9 APPARITION OF SAINT ANNE.
[On the afternoon of July 26 ^th, 1819, Sister Emmerich, after relating
many things about Anna, the Blessed Virgin's holy mother, fell asleep
as she was praying. After a while she sneezed three times and exclaimed
impatiently, but still half asleep, O, why must I wake up?' Then she
woke up completely and said with a smile: I was in a much better place,
I was much better off than here. I was being much comforted, and then
all of a sudden I was woken by my sneeze and someone said to me "You
must wake up ", but I did not want to, I was so happy there and was
annoyed at having to go away, then I had to sneeze, and I woke up.'
[Next day she told me:] I had just fallen asleep last night after
saying my prayers when someone whom I recognized as a young girl I had
often seen before came to my bed. She said to me rather shortly: You
have been speaking a great deal about me today, you shall now have a
sight of me, so that you may make no mistakes.' So I asked her: Have I
perhaps talked too much?' She answered abruptly No!' and disappeared.
She was still a girl, slim and attractive, her head was covered with a
white hood, drawn together at the back of her neck and ending there in
a hanging knot as if her hair were inside it. Her long dress, which
completely covered her, was of whitish wool; the sleeves of it seemed
to be rather full at the elbows. Over this she wore a long cloak of
brownish wool, like camel's hair.
Hardly had I had time to feel touched and pleased by this vision, when
suddenly I saw by my bed an aged woman in similar dress with her head
more bent and very hollow cheeks--a Jewess of some fifty years, thin
but handsome. Why,' I thought, does this old Jewess come to me?' Then
she said: You need not be afraid; I only want to show you how I was
when I bore the mother of the Lord, so that you may make no mistakes.'
I asked at once: O, where is the dear little child Mary?' and she
replied: I have not got her with me now.' Then I asked again: How old
is she now?' And she answered: Four years old.' I asked her once more:
But have I spoken rightly?' and she said shortly, Yes.' I asked her: O,
please do not let me say too much!' She did not answer and disappeared.
Then I woke up, and thought over everything that I had seen of Anna and
of the childhood of the Blessed Virgin, and everything became clear to
me and I felt blissfully happy. Next morning, when I was again asleep,
I had a new and very beautiful vision. I thought I could not forget it,
but the next day brought with it so many interruptions and sufferings
that nothing of it remains in my mind.
2.10 VISION OF THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION [43] .
During the whole night I saw a terrible, horrifying picture of the sins
of the whole world; but towards morning I fell asleep again and was
transported to the place in Jerusalem where the Temple had stood, and
then on to the region of Nazareth, where the house of Joachim and Anna
used to stand. I recognized the country round. Here I saw a slender
column of light rising out of the earth like the stem of a flower. This
column was crowned with the appearance of a shining octagonal church,
which grew forth from the stem like the calyx of a flower or the seed
vessel of a poppy. [44] The column grew up within this church like a
little tree, with symmetrical branches bearing the figures of those
among the Blessed Virgin's family who were the objects of veneration on
this feast. It was as if they were standing on the stamens of a flower.
I saw the Blessed Virgin's holy mother St. Anne, standing between
Joachim and another man, her father perhaps. Beneath St. Anne's breast
I saw a space filled with light, somewhat in the shape of a chalice,
and in this I saw the figure of a shining child growing and developing.
Its little hands were crossed on its breast and its little head was
bent, and countless rays of light issued from it towards one part of
the world. (I thought it strange that they did not shine in all
directions.) On others of the surrounding branches were many figures
turned towards the center in veneration, and all round within the
church I saw orders and choirs of saints, countless in number, all
turning in prayer towards that holy mother. This celebration, in the
sweetness of its harmony and devotion, can only be compared to a meadow
of innumerable flowers, stirred by a gentle wind and lifting their
heads to offer their scents and their colors to the sun from which they
have received life itself and all they have to offer. Above this
symbolical picture of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception the tree
of light sent up another shoot, and in this second crown I saw a
further moment of the feast being celebrated. Mary and Joseph were
kneeling here, and a little lower St. Anne, all in adoration of the
child Jesus, whom I saw above them in the top of the tree, holding in
His hand the orb or globe and surrounded by an infinite glory of light.
Around this scene, and bowing in adoration before it, were, nearest of
all, the three holy kings, the shepherds, and the apostles and
disciples; farther away other saints joined in the choirs of
worshippers. In the light from above I saw indistinct figures of Powers
and Principalities, and still higher I saw as it were a half-sun, its
light streaming down through the dome of the church. This second
picture seemed to indicate the approach of the Feast of the Nativity
after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. When the picture first
appeared, I seemed to be standing outside the church, looking outwards
from under the pillar; later I saw into the inside of the church as I
have described it. I saw, too, the little child Mary developing in the
space of light under St. Anne's heart, and received, at the same
moment, an inexpressible conviction of the Immaculate Conception. I
read it as clearly as in a book, and understood it. It was shown to me,
that a church to the glory of God had once stood here, but had been
given over to destruction in consequence of unworthy disputes about
this holy mystery; that the Church Triumphant, however, still
celebrated this feast on this spot.
2.11 THE BLESSED VIRGIN REVEALS SECRETS ABOUT THEIR LIVES.
[During her visions of Jesus' ministry Catherine Emmerich related the
following on December 16 ^th, 1822.]
I often hear the Blessed Virgin telling the women who were her close
intimates (for instance, Joanna Chuza and Susanna of Jerusalem) various
secrets about herself and about Our Lord, which she knows partly from
inner knowledge and partly from what her holy mother Anna told her.
Thus today I heard her telling Susanna and Martha that during the time
when she was bearing Our Lord within her she never felt the slightest
discomfort, nothing but infinite inner joy and beatitude. She told
them, too, that Joachim and Anna had met in the hall under the Golden
Gate in a golden hour; and that God's grace had been granted to them
here in such abundance as to make it possible for her alone, from her
parents' holy obedience and pure love of God, to have been conceived in
her mother's womb without any stain of sin. She also explained to them
that but for the Fall the conception of all men would have been as
pure. She spoke, too, of her beloved elder sister Mary Heli, that her
parents had realized that she was not the promised fruit, and how, in
their longing for that fruit, they had long practiced continence. It
was a joy to me to hear now from the Blessed Virgin herself what I have
always seen about her elder sister. I saw now the whole sequence of
grace received by Mary's parents just as I have always described it,
from the appearance of the angel to Anna and Joachim down to their
meeting under the Golden Gate; that is to say, in the subterranean ball
under the Golden Gate. I saw Joachim and Anna encompassed by a host of
angels with heavenly light. They themselves shone and were as pure as
spirits in a supernatural state, as no human couple had ever been
before them. I think that the Golden Gate itself was the scene of the
examination and absolution of women accused of adultery, and that other
ceremonies of reconciliation took place here. [45] There were five of
these subterranean passages under the Temple, and one also under the
part where the virgins lived. These were used for certain ceremonies of
atonement. I do not know whether others before Joachim and Anna had
gone there, but I think the place was very seldom visited. I cannot at
present recall whether it was in general connected with sacrifices
offered by the unfruitful, but the priests had been given some order
about it.
2.12 CELEBRATION OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS.
[On December 8 ^th, 1820, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of
Mary, the soul of Catherine Emmerich was transported in an active state
of prayer and meditation over a great part of the earth. The whole of
this visionary journey will be described in its proper place, but in
the meantime we will reproduce the following extracts from it in order
to give some idea of these journeyings of her soul.
[She came to Rome, was with the Holy Father, visited a much-loved and
devout nun in Sardinia, reached Palestine after a short visit to
Palermo, went to India, and thence to what she calls the mountain of
the Prophet. [46] Thence she journeyed to Abyssinia, where she came to
a strange Jewish city on a high mountain rock and visited its ruler
Judith, [47] with whom she spoke of the Messiah, of that day's feast of
the Conception of His Mother, of the holy Advent time, and of the
approaching Feast of His Birth. During the whole of this journey she
did all that a conscientious missionary would have done on a similar
journey to carry out his task and make use of his opportunities; she
prayed, taught, helped, comforted, and learnt. But in order to make
plain to the reader, in her own words, what she perceived on this
journey regarding the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we must refer
him to the note on page 46, in which that part of Jesus' ministry to
which she here alludes is described in detail.]
When in my great dream-journey I came into the Promised Land, I saw all
those things which I have related about the Conception of the Blessed
Virgin. Thereupon I entered into the daily visions of Our Lord's
ministry and had today reached the 8 ^th of December of the third year
of His teaching. I found Jesus not in the Promised Land, but was
brought by my guide eastwards over the Jordan to Arabia, where the
Lord, accompanied by three young men, was in a tent city of the three
holy kings in which they had settled after their return from Bethlehem.
2.13 THE HOLY KINGS CELEBRATE A FEAST HONORING MARY'S CONCEPTION.
I saw that the two holy kings who were still alive were celebrating
with their tribe a three-day feast starting from today, December 8 ^th.
On this night, fifteen years before Christ's birth, they had seen for
the first time the star promised by Balaam rise in the sky [ Num.
24.17: A star shall rise out of Jacob']--the star for which they and
their forefathers had waited so long, scanning the heavens in patient
watchfulness. They discerned in it the picture of a virgin, bearing in
one hand a scepter and in the other a balance. The scales were held
even by a perfect ear of wheat in the one and by a cluster of grapes in
the other. Therefore every year since their return from Bethlehem they
kept a three-day feast beginning with this day.
2.14 ELIMINATION OF HUMAN SACRIFICE BY THE STAR-WORSHIPPERS.
I saw, too, that as a result of this vision on the day of the
conception of Mary, fifteen years before the birth of Christ, these
star-worshippers did away with a terrible religious custom of theirs--a
cruel sacrifice of children, long practiced among them as the result of
revelations which had been misunderstood by them and confused by evil
influences. They had carried out at different times and in different
manners sacrifices of both children and grown people. I saw that before
Mary's conception they had the following custom. They took a child of
one of the purest and most devout mothers amongst the followers of
their religion, and she esteemed herself very fortunate to offer up her
child in this way. The child was flayed and strewn with flour to absorb
the blood. They ate this blood-soaked flour as a holy repast, and
continued strewing the flour and eating until there was no blood left
in the child's body. Finally the child's flesh was cut up into small
pieces, which were distributed among them and eaten. [48] I saw them
performing this gruesome ceremony with the greatest simplicity and
devoutness, and I was told that they had adopted this dreadful practice
as a result of misunderstanding and distorting certain prophetic and
symbolical indications which they had received regarding the Holy
Eucharist. I saw that this terrible sacrifice was carried on in
Chaldea, in the country of Mensor, one of the three holy kings, until
he put an end to its horrors on receiving enlightenment in a vision
from heaven on the day of Mary's conception. I saw him on a high wooden
pyramidal edifice, engaged in studying the stars, as his people had
done for centuries in accordance with their ancient traditions. I saw
King Mensor lying in an ecstasy as he contemplated the stars; his limbs
were rigid and he had lost consciousness. His companions came to him
and brought him back to himself, but at first he seemed not to know
them at all. He had seen the picture in the star with the Virgin, the
scales, the ear of corn, and the cluster of grapes, and had received an
inner admonition, after which that cruel ceremony was abolished.
2.15 A PARALLEL VISION OF CHILD SACRIFICE.
After seeing at night in my sleep the fearful picture of the murdered
child on my right hand, I turned over in horror in my bed, but saw it
again on my left hand. I begged God most earnestly to free me from this
dreadful sight. I woke up and heard the clock strike. My heavenly
Bridegroom said to me, pointing round Him as He spoke: See far more
evil that befalls Me every day at the hands of many throughout the
whole world.' And as I looked about me into the distance, many things
came before my soul which were indeed still more dreadful than that
sacrifice of children; for I saw Jesus Himself cruelly sacrificed on
the Altar by unworthy and sinful celebrations of the Holy Mysteries. I
saw how the blessed Host lay on the altar before unworthy degenerate
priests like a living Child Jesus, whom they cut and terribly mutilated
with the paten. Their sacrifice, though an efficacious celebration of
the Holy Mysteries, appeared like a cruel murder. [49]
The same cruelty was shown to me in the heartless treatment of the
members of Christ, His followers, and God's adopted children. I saw at
the present time countless good, unhappy men being everywhere
oppressed, tormented, and persecuted; and I always saw that it was
Jesus who suffered this ill-treatment. The times are terrible; a refuge
is no longer anywhere to be found; a dense cloud of sin lies over the
whole world, and I see men giving way to the worst crimes with complete
indifference and unconcern. I saw all this in many visions while my
soul was being led through many lands over the whole earth. At last I
came back to the visions of the Feast of Mary's Conception.
2.16 HISTORY OF THE CELEBRATIONS OF THE CONCEPTION OF MARY.
I am quite unable to tell in what a wonderful way I journeyed last
night in dream. I was in the most different parts of the world and in
the most different ages, and very often saw the Feast of Mary's
Conception being celebrated in the most different places. I was in
Ephesus, and saw this feast being celebrated in the house of the Mother
of God, which was still standing there as a church. It must have been
at a very early time, for I saw the Way of the Cross set up by Mary
herself still in perfect preservation. [The second Way of the Cross was
set up in Jerusalem and the third in Rome.]
The Greeks kept this feast long before the schism. I still remember
something of this, but am not quite sure what led up to it. I saw how a
saint, Sabbas, I think, had a vision relating to the Immaculate
Conception. He saw the picture of the Blessed Virgin on the globe,
crushing the head of the serpent under her feet, and recognized that
the Blessed Virgin alone was conceived unwounded and unstained by the
serpent. [50] I saw, too, that one of the Greek churches or one of the
Greek bishops refused to accept this truth unless the picture came to
them across the sea. Then I saw the appearance of the picture float
over the sea to their church and appear on the altar, whereupon they
began to keep the feast. That church possessed a life-size picture of
the Blessed Virgin painted by St. Luke just as she was in her earthly
life, in a white robe and veil. (I have an idea that this picture had
been sent from Rome, where they have only a half-length portrait.) They
had placed the picture above the altar in the place where the vision of
the Immaculate Conception had appeared. I think it was in
Constantinople, or perhaps I have seen it venerated there in earlier
times.
I was in England, too, and saw the feast being introduced and
celebrated there in olden times. In this connection I saw the day
before yesterday, on the Feast of St. Nicholas, the following miracle.
I saw an abbot, coming from England, in great danger in a ship in a
storm. They prayed very fervently for the protection of the Mother of
God, and I saw an apparition of the holy bishop Nicholas of Myra
floating over the sea to the ship and telling the abbot that he had
been sent by Mary to announce to him that he was to cause the Feast of
the Immaculate Conception to be kept in England on December 8 ^th, and
that then the ship would arrive safely. In reply to the abbot's
question as to what prayers should be used for this feast, he answered,
the same as those for Mary's nativity. The name of Anselm [51] was also
associated with the introduction of this feast, but I have forgotten
the details.
I also saw the introduction of this feast into France, and how St.
Bernard wrote in opposition to it because its introduction had not come
from Rome. [52]
3. THE ACTUAL SEASON OF MARY'S CONCEPTION (NOTE BY THE WRITER).
All that has so far been recorded of the blessing given to Joachim and
Anna is compiled from visions and reminiscences of Catherine Emmerich
during the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 ^th. She
explained, however, on that day in the year 1821 that the meeting of
Joachim and Anna under the Golden Gate did not occur in December but in
the autumn, at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles (which lasted from
the 15 ^th to 23 ^rd of the month Tisri, i.e. in September or October).
[53] Thus she saw Joachim building tabernacles with his shepherds (see
p. 22 ) before going to the Temple, and Anna receiving the promise of
fruitfulness while she was praying under a tree which formed a
tabernacle. In the previous year, 1820, she had, however, stated that
she remembered Joachim having gone up to Jerusalem with his offerings
on the occasion of a dedication festival. This cannot be the usual
Jewish dedication feast in the winter (the 25 ^th day of the month,
Kislev), but must doubtless be a memorial festival of Solomon's
dedication of the Temple. According to Catherine Emmerich's daily
accounts of the three years of Jesus' ministry, Our Lord was in Aruma
(a few hours' distant from Salem) at the close of the Feast of
Tabernacles in the second year of His ministry, and taught there about
the approaching destruction of the Temple.
This feast is, it is true, not mentioned in the works about Jewish
antiquities which we commonly consult, but its existence cannot, I
think, be doubted, apart from Catherine Emmerich's statements, if it is
remembered that Solomon celebrated the consecration of his Temple in
connection with the Feast of Tabernacles (3 Kings 8.2-66, and 2
Chronicles 7.10), and that the Masora on 3 Kings 8.2 and 54 appoints
the account of the consecration of Solomon's Temple as festival lessons
for the second and eighth days of the Feast of Tabernacles. Although
Catherine Emmerich saw the meeting of Joachim and Anna happening at the
close of the Feast of Tabernacles, and thus two months earlier than the
Church's celebration of Mary's conception, it was always on the
occasion of that feast on December 8 ^th that she was impelled to
communicate visions about the Blessed Virgin's conception. She said,
too, that it was on that day, not at the time of the Feast of
Tabernacles in the autumn, that the remembrance of this grace-bringing
event was already being celebrated by the three holy kings when Christ
visited them in Arabia after the raising of Lazarus.
Here end the additional communications by Catherine Emmerich about the
conception of Mary: the story of the Blessed Virgin's life is now
resumed.
4. THE INFUSING OF MARY'S SOUL AND HER BIRTH.
4.1 THE UNITING OF MARY'S SOUL AND BODY.
I had a vision of the creation of Mary's most holy soul and of its
being united to her most pure body. In the glory by which the Most Holy
Trinity is usually represented in my visions I saw a movement like a
great shining mountain, and yet also like a human figure; and I saw
something rise out of the midst of this figure towards its mouth and go
forth from it like a shining brightness. Then I saw this brightness
standing separate before the Face of God, turning and shaping itself--
or rather being shaped, for I saw that while this brightness took human
form, yet it was by the Will of God that it received a form so
unspeakably beautiful. I saw, too, that God showed the beauty of this
soul to the angels, and that they had unspeakable joy in its beauty. I
am unable to describe in words all that I saw and understood.
When seventeen weeks and five days after the conception of the Blessed
Virgin had gone by (that is to say, five days before Anna's pregnancy
was half accomplished), I saw the Blessed Virgin's holy mother lying
asleep in her bed in her house near Nazareth. Then there came a shining
light above her, and a ray from this light fell upon the middle of her
side, and the light passed into her in the shape of a little shining
human figure. In the same instant I saw the Blessed Virgin's holy
mother raise herself on her couch surrounded by light. She was in
ecstasy, and had a vision of her womb opening like a tabernacle to
enclose a shining little virgin from whom man's whole salvation was to
spring. I saw that this was the instant in which for the first time the
child moved within her. Anna then rose from her couch, dressed herself,
and announced her joy to the holy Joachim. They both thanked God, and I
saw them praying under the tree in the garden where the angel had
comforted Anna. It was made known to me that the Blessed Virgin's soul
was united to her body five days earlier than with other children, and
that her birth was twelve days earlier.
4.2 MARY'S BIRTH.
Several days before the Blessed Virgin's birth Anna had told Joachim
that the time was approaching for her to be delivered. She sent
messengers to Sephoris, where her younger sister Maraha lived; to the
widow Enue (sister of Elizabeth) in the valley of Zabulon; and to her
niece Mary Salome at Bethsaida, asking these three women to come to
her. I saw them on their journeys. The widow Enue had a serving lad
with her; the other two women were accompanied by their husbands who,
however, went back on approaching Nazareth. I saw that on the day
before Anna was delivered Joachim sent his many menservants out to the
herds, and among Anna's new maidservants he kept in the house only
those who were needed. He, too, went out into his nearest pasture. I
saw that Anna's firstborn daughter, Mary Heli, looked after the house.
She was then about nineteen years old and was married to Cleophas, one
of Joachim's chief shepherds, by whom she had a little daughter, Mary
Cleophas, now about four years old. After praying, Joachim chose out
his finest lambs, kids, and cattle, sending shepherds to take them to
the Temple as a thank-offering. He did not return home until nightfall.
I saw the three cousins arriving at Anna's house in the evening. They
went to her in her room behind the hearth and embraced her. After Anna
had told them that the time was near for her to be delivered, they
stood up and sang a hymn together: Praise the Lord God; He has shown
mercy to His people, and has redeemed Israel, and has fulfilled the
promise which He gave to Adam in Paradise that the seed of the woman
should crush the head of the serpent,' and so on. I can no longer
recite it all by heart. Anna prayed as though in ecstasy. She
introduced into the hymn all the prophetic symbols of Mary. She said:
The seed given by God to Abraham has ripened in me.' She spoke of the
promise to Sarah of Isaac's birth and said: The blossoming of Aaron's
rod is perfected in me.' At that moment I saw her as though suffused
with light; I saw the room full of radiance, and Jacob's ladder
appearing above it. The women were overcome with astonishment and joy,
and I think that they also saw the vision. When the prayer of welcome
was over, the travelers were refreshed with a slight meal of bread and
fruit, and water mixed with balsam. They ate and drank standing up, and
then lay down till midnight to rest from their journey. Anna did not go
to bed, but prayed, and at midnight woke the other women to pray with
her. They followed her to her praying-place behind a curtain.
Anna opened the doors of a little cupboard in the wall which contained
a casket with holy objects. On each side were lights--perhaps lamps,
but I am not sure. They had to be pushed up in their holders, and then
little bits of shavings put underneath to prevent them from sinking
down. After this the lights were lit. There was a cushioned stool at
the foot of this sort of little altar. The casket contained some of
Sarah's hair (Anna had a great veneration for her), some of Joseph's
bones (brought by Moses from Egypt), and something belonging to Tobias,
I think a relic of his clothing; also the little shining, white,
pear-shaped goblet from which Abraham had drunk when blessed by the
angel. (This had been given to Joachim from the Ark of the Covenant
when he was blessed in the Temple. I now know that this blessing took
the form of wine and bread and was a strengthening and sacramental
food.)
Anna knelt before the little cupboard with one of the women on each
side and the third behind her. She recited another hymn; I think it
mentioned the burning bush of Moses. Then I saw the room filled with
supernatural light which became more intense as it wove itself round
Anna. The women sank to the ground as though stunned. The light round
Anna took the exact form of the burning bush of Moses on Horeb, and I
could no longer see her. The whole flame streamed inwards; and then I
suddenly saw that Anna received the shining child Mary in her hands,
wrapped her in her mantle, pressed her to her heart, and laid her naked
on the stool in front of the holy relics, still continuing her prayer.
Then I heard the child cry, and saw that Anna brought out wrappings
from under the great veil which enveloped her. She wrapped the child
first in gray and then in red swaddling bands up to her arms; her
breast, arms, and head were bare. The appearance of the burning bush
around Anna had now vanished.
The women stood up and received the newborn child in their arms with
great astonishment. They shed tears of joy. They all joined in a hymn
of praise, and Anna lifted her child up on high as though making an
offering. I saw at that moment the room full of light, and beheld
several angels singing Gloria and Alleluia. I heard all their words.
They announced that on the twentieth day the child was to be called
Mary.
Anna now went into her bedroom and lay down on her couch. The women in
the meantime unwrapped the child, bathed it, and wrapped it up again,
and then laid it beside its mother. There was a little woven wicker
basket which could be fastened beside the bed or against the wall or at
the foot of the bed, whichever was wanted, so that the child could
always have its place near its mother and yet separate.
The women now called Joachim, the father. He came to Anna's couch and
knelt down weeping, his tears falling on the child; then he lifted it
up in his arms and uttered his song of praise, like Zechariah at John's
birth. He spoke in this hymn of the holy seed, implanted by God in
Abraham, which had continued amongst God's people by means of the
covenant ratified by circumcision, but had now reached its highest
blossoming in this child and was, in the flesh, completed. I also heard
how this song of praise declared that now was fulfilled the word of the
prophet: There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse.' He
said, too, in great humility and devoutness, that he would now gladly
die.
It was only then that I noticed that Mary Heli, Anna's elder daughter,
did not have sight of the child until later. Although she had become
the mother of Mary Cleophas several years before, she was not present
at the Blessed Virgin's birth--perhaps because, according to Jewish
rules, it was not considered seemly for a daughter to be with her
mother at such a time.
Next morning I saw the serving men and maids and many people from
nearby gathered round the house. They were allowed to enter in groups,
and the child was shown by the women to them all. Many were greatly
moved, and some led better lives thereafter. The neighbors had come
because they had seen in the night a glowing light above the house, and
because the birth of Anna's child after long unfruitfulness was looked
upon as a great favor from heaven.
4.3 JOY AT MARY'S BIRTH IN HEAVEN.
In the moment when the newborn child lay in the arms of her holy mother
Anna, I saw that at the same time the child was presented in heaven in
the sight of the Most Holy Trinity, and greeted with unspeakable joy by
all the heavenly host. Then I understood, that there was made known to
her in a supernatural manner her whole future with all her joys and
sorrows. Mary was taught infinite mysteries, and yet was and remained a
child. This knowledge of hers we cannot understand, because our
knowledge grows on the tree of good and evil. She knew everything in
the same way as a child knows its mother's breast and that it is to
drink from it. As the vision faded in which I saw the child Mary being
thus taught in heaven through grace, I heard her weep for the first
time.
I often see pictures like this, but for me they are inexpressible and
probably for most people not quite comprehensible; therefore I do not
relate them.
4.4 THE PROCLAIMING OF MARY'S BIRTH IN LIMBO.
In the moment of Mary's birth I saw the tidings brought to the
patriarchs in limbo. I saw them all, especially Adam and Eve, filled
with inexpressible joy at the fulfillment of the promise given in
Paradise. I also perceived that the patriarchs advanced in their state
of grace, that the place of their sojourn became brighter and more
spacious, and that it was given to them to have more influence on
earth. It was as if all their labor and penance, all the struggling,
crying and yearning of their lives had matured into its destined fruit.
4.5 AGITATION IN NATURE AND MANKIND AT MARY'S BIRTH.
At the time of Mary's birth I saw a great and joyful agitation in
nature, in the animal world, in the hearts of all good men, and I heard
the sound of sweet singing. Sinners, however, were overwhelmed by fear
and sorrow. I saw, specially near Nazareth, but also in the rest of the
Promised Land, many who were possessed break out at that time into
violent ravings. They were hurled from side to side with loud cries,
and the devils shrieked from within them, We must surrender, we must go
out!'
In Jerusalem I saw how the aged priest Simeon, who lived in the Temple,
was startled at the moment of Mary's birth by loud shrieks coming from
the madmen and those possessed of the devil, of whom many were shut up
in a building in one of the streets on the Temple Hill. Simeon lived
near them and was partly responsible for looking after them. About
midnight I saw him go to the open space before the house of those
possessed and inquire of one of them who lived nearest as to the cause
of the loud cries with which everyone had been roused from their sleep.
The man cried still louder that he must go out. Simeon opened the door;
the possessed one rushed out, and Satan cried from within him: I must
go out. We must all go out! A virgin has been born! There are so many
angels on earth who torment us! We must now go out and may nevermore
enter into men!' I saw Simeon praying fervently; the wretched man was
flung back and forth on the open space, and I saw the devil go out of
him. It gave me great pleasure to see the aged Simeon. I also saw the
prophetess Anna and Noemi wakened and informed by visions of the birth
of a chosen child. [Noemi was the sister of Lazarus' mother; she was in
the Temple and later became Mary's teacher.] They met and told each
other of what they had seen. I think they knew Anna, the Blessed
Virgin's mother.
4.6 THE PROCLAIMING OF MARY'S BIRTH IN CHALDEA.
In the night of Mary's birth I saw in a city of the Chaldeans that five
sibyls, or virgin prophetesses, were granted visions. I saw them
hastening to the priests, who then made known in many places that these
prophetesses had seen that a virgin had been born and that many gods
had come down to earth to greet her, while other spirits fled before
her lamenting. I saw, too, that the picture of a Virgin holding scales
evenly balanced with corn and grapes, which the watchers of the stars
had seen since Mary's conception, was no longer visible to them. In the
hour of Mary's birth it seemed to move out of the star, in which it
left a gap, and to sink down and away from it in one particular
direction. They now made and set up in their temple the great idol
which I saw there in my visions of the life of Jesus; it had some
connection with the Blessed Virgin. [54]
Later they set up in their temple another symbolic image of the Blessed
Virgin, the closed garden. I saw live animals lying in this temple and
being cared for. I am not sure whether they were dogs. They were fed
with the flesh of other animals. Within the temple of the three holy
kings I had till now always seen a wonderful illumination at night. It
was as if one looked up into a starry sky set with all the
constellations. They used to make alterations in this artificial sky in
their temple according to the visions they saw in the heavens. Thus
after the birth of Mary the illumination which had previously come from
outside now came from within.
4.7 EVENTS IN EGYPT DURING MARY'S BIRTH.
When the Blessed Virgin was born, I saw that image of a winged woman
with a balance in her hand (bending down over a child in a little ship
lying in the top of a tree) cast into the sea from its place in the
temple on an island in a river. I had seen the image placed there long
ago, before the time of Elijah, in accordance with the forced utterance
of an idol. The little tree on which lay the child in the ship,
remained in its place. A church was built there later.
At the moment of Mary's birth I saw falling from the temple ceiling
pieces of that winged female figure with three breasts which I had seen
fixed to the ceiling of a temple when a messenger from Elijah announced
his master's prophecy of a coming Virgin. The face, the three breasts,
and the lower part of the body all fell down and were broken to pieces.
The bushel-shaped crown, the arms with the ears of corn, the upper part
of the body and the wings did not fall down.
4.8 VISITS WITH THE NEWBORN BABY MARY.
On the 9 ^th of September, the day after Mary's birth, I saw in the
house several other relations from the neighborhood. I heard many names
but have forgotten them again. I also saw many of Joachim's menservants
arriving from the more distant pastures. All were shown the newborn
child, and all were filled with great joy. The meal in the house was
accompanied by much rejoicing.
On the 10 ^th and 11 ^th of September I again saw many visiting the
child Mary. Among them were relations of Joachim's from the valley of
Zabulon. On these occasions the child was brought into the front part
of the house in its little cradle and put on a high stand (like a
sawing bench) to be shown to the people. The child was wrapped in red,
covered with transparent white stuff, up to its bare arms, and had a
transparent little veil round its neck. The cradle was covered with red
and white stuff.
I saw Mary Cleophas (the two- or three-year old child of Anna's elder
daughter and of Cleophas) playing with the child Mary and caressing
her. Mary Cleophas was a fat, sturdy child, and wore a sleeveless white
dress, with a red hem hung with red buttons like tiny apples. Round her
bare arms she wore little white wreaths, which seemed to be made of
feathers, silk, or wool.
4.9 THE CHILD RECEIVES THE NAME MARY.
[September 22 ^nd-23 ^rd] Today I saw great preparations for a feast in
Anna's house. All the furniture was moved aside, and in the front part
of the house the dividing screens had been taken away to make one large
hall instead of a number of small rooms. Along each side of this hall I
saw a long, low table set out for a meal with many things that I had
not noticed before. Fragile vases with openwork tops like baskets stood
on the table; they may have been for flowers. On a side-table I saw
many little white sticks, apparently made of bone, and spoons shaped
like deep shells, with handles ending in a ring. There were also little
curved tubes, perhaps for sucking up liquid.
In the center of the hall, a kind of altar table had been set up,
covered in red and white. On it lay a little trough-shaped
basket-cradle, of red and white wickerwork, covered with a sky-blue
cloth. Beside this altar stood a lectern draped in a cloth on which lay
parchment prayer scrolls. Five priests from Nazareth stood before the
altar, one of them wearing grander vestments than the others; Joachim
stood near them. In the background near the altar were several men and
women belonging to the families of Anna and Joachim, all in festal
attire. I remember seeing Anna's sister Maraha from Sephoris, and
Anna's elder daughter and others. Anna herself, though no longer in
bed, remained in her room behind the hearth and did not appear at the
ceremony.
Enue, Elizabeth's sister, brought out the child Mary, wrapped to the
arms in red swaddling clothes covered with transparent white stuff, and
laid her in Joachim's arms. The priests approached the altar where the
scrolls lay and prayed aloud. Two of them held up the train of the
principal one. Joachim then laid the child in the hands of the high
priest, who, lifting her up in offering as he prayed, laid her in the
cradle on the altar. He then took a pair of scissors which, like our
snuffers, had a little box at the end to hold what was cut off. With
this he cut off three little tufts of hair from the child's head (one
from each side and one from the top) and burnt them in a brazier. Then
he took a vase of oil and anointed the child's five senses, touching
with his thumb her ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and breast. He also wrote
the name Mary on a parchment and laid it on the child's breast. She was
then returned to Joachim, who gave her to Enue to be taken back to
Anna. Hymns were sung and after that the meal began, but I saw no more.
5. CAUSE OF THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF MARY.
[On the evening of September 7 ^th, the vigil of the Feast of Mary's
Nativity, Catherine Emmerich was unwontedly-- as she said,
supernaturally--gay, although she felt ill at the same time. She was in
an unusually lively and confidential mood. She spoke of extraordinary
joy in all nature because of Mary's approaching birth, and said that
she felt as if a great joy was awaiting her next day, if only this did
not turn to sorrow. [55] ] There is such jubilation in nature: I hear
birds singing, I see lambs and kids frolicking, and where Anna's house
once stood the doves are flying about in great flocks as if drunk with
joy. Of the house and its surroundings nothing now remains; it is now a
wilderness. I saw some pilgrims, holding long staffs and their garments
girt about them, with cloths wrapped round their heads like caps. They
are going through this part of the country on their way to Mount
Carmel. A few hermits from Mount Carmel live here, and the pilgrims
asked them in amazement what was the meaning of this joy in nature?
They were told that it was ever thus in that country on the eve of
Mary's birth, and that it was probably there that Anna's house had
stood. A pilgrim who had passed that way before had, they said, told
them that this was first noticed a long time ago by a devout man, and
that this had led to the celebration of the feast of Mary's Nativity.
I now saw this institution of the feast myself. [56] Two hundred and
fifty years after the death of the Blessed Virgin I saw a very devout
man journeying through the Holy Land in order to seek out and venerate
all the places connected with the life of Jesus upon earth. I saw that
this holy man was given guidance from above, and often remained for
several days in prayer and contemplation at different places, enjoying
many visions and full of interior delight. He had for many years felt,
in the night of the 7 ^th to the 8 ^th of September, a great joyfulness
in nature and heard a lovely singing in the air; and at last, in answer
to his earnest prayer, he was told by an angel in a dream that this was
the birthnight of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He received this revelation
on his journey to Mount Sinai or Horeb. It was told him at the same
time that in a cave of the Prophet Elijah on that mountain was a
walled-up chapel in honor of the Mother of the Messiah, and that he was
to inform the hermits living there of both these things. Thereupon I
saw him arriving at Mount Sinai. The place where the monastery now
stands was already at that time inhabited by isolated hermits, and just
as precipitous on the side facing the valley as it is now, when people
have to be hoisted up by means of a pulley. I saw now that upon his
announcement the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin was first
celebrated here by the hermits on September 8 ^th about A.D. 250, and
that its celebration spread later to the Universal Church. I saw, too,
how he and the hermits looked for the cave of Elijah and the chapel in
honor of the Blessed Virgin. These were, however, very difficult to
find among the many caves of the Essenes and of other hermits. I saw
many deserted gardens here and there near these caves, with magnificent
fruit trees in them. After praying, the devout man was inspired to take
a Jew with them when they visited these caves, and was told that they
might recognize as the cave of Elijah the one that he was unable to
enter. I saw thereupon how they sent an aged Jew into the caves, and
how he felt himself thrust out of the narrow entrance of one of them,
however much he tried to force his way in. In this way they recognized
it as the cave of Elijah. They found in it a second cave, walled-up,
which they opened; and this was the place where Elijah had prayed in
veneration of the future mother of the Savior. The big, beautifully
patterned stones which made the wall were used later for building the
church. They also found in the cave many holy bones of patriarchs and
prophets, as well as many woven screens and objects of earlier worship.
All these were preserved in the church. I saw much of Mount Horeb on
this occasion, but have forgotten it again. I still remember that the
place where Moses saw the burning bush is called in the language of the
place The Shadow of God', and that one may walk on it only with bare
feet. I also saw a mountain there entirely of red sand, on which,
however, very fine fruit trees grew.
6. THE EFFECT OF PRAYING ON THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY OF MARY.
I saw much of St. Bridget, and was given much knowledge of what had
been revealed to this saint about Mary's conception and birth. I
remember that the Blessed Virgin said to her that if women with child
celebrated the vigil of her Nativity by fasting and by the pious
recitation of nine Ave Marias in honor of her nine-months' sojourn in
her Mother's womb; and if they renewed this devotion frequently during
their pregnancy and the day before they expected their confinement, at
the same time receiving with devotion the Holy Sacrament, she would
bring their prayer before God and beg for a happy delivery even in
difficult and dangerous conditions.
I myself had today a vision of the Blessed Virgin who came to me and
told me, among other things, that whoever recited with love and
devotion on the afternoon of this day nine Ave Marias in honor of her
nine months' sojourn in her mother's womb and of her birth, continuing
this devotion for nine days, would give the angels nine flowers each
day for a bouquet which they would receive in heaven and present to the
Blessed Trinity, to obtain favor for the suppliant. Later I felt myself
transported to a height between heaven and earth. The earth lay below,
dark and troubled; above in heaven I saw the Blessed Virgin before the
Throne of God, between the choirs of angels and the ordered hosts of
the saints. I saw, built for her out of devotions and prayers on earth,
two portals, or thrones of honor, which grew at last into palaces like
churches, and even into whole cities. It was strange to see how these
buildings were made entirely of herbs, flowers, and garlands all
intertwined, their different species expressing the different kinds and
different merits of the prayers of individual human beings and of whole
communities. I saw all being taken by angels or saints from the hands
of the suppliants and being carried up to heaven.
7. THE PURIFICATION OF ST. ANNE.
Some weeks after Mary's birth I saw Joachim and Anna journeying to the
Temple with the child to make sacrifice. They presented the child here
in the Temple in devotion and gratitude to God, who had taken from them
their long unfruitfulness, just as later the Blessed Virgin according
to the Law offered and ransomed the Child Jesus in the Temple. [57] The
day after their arrival they made sacrifice, and already then made a
vow to dedicate their child completely to the Temple in a few years
time. Then they traveled back to Nazareth with the child.
__________________________________________________________________
[32] The matter of the tunnel is one that has long puzzled students.
Josephus (Ant., XV, xi, 5) certainly mentions an eastern gate where the
pure' could enter, and (ib., 7) a tunnel that led from the eastern gate
into the central enclosure, adding that this was built specially for
the king (Herod). Then the Mishnah, Middoth, I, 9, mentions a tunnel
leading under the Temple to a bath-house within the enclosure, where
ceremonial cleansing could be performed. Whether these refer to the
same tunnel is uncertain. See further, n. 45, p. 34 . (SB)
[33] See the Little Chapter in the Vespers of the Office of the Blessed
Virgin Mary from Ecclus. 24.14. From the beginning, and before the
world, was I created, and to the world to come I shall not cease to be'
(Ab initio et ante saecula creata sum et usque ad futura saecula non
desinam '). Compare also the passage of Holy Writ which has long been
applied by the Church to Mary: I came out of the mouth of the Most
High, the first-born before all creatures. I made that in the heavens
there should rise light that never faileth. . . . My throne is in a
pillar of cloud' (Ego ex ore Altissimi prodivi primogenita ante omnem
creaturam, ego feci in coelis, ut orietur lumen indeficiens. Thronus
meus in columna nubis ' ) ( Ecclus. 24.5 ). (CB)
[34] In the course of her many visions, some historical and some
symbolical, from the Old and New Testaments, Catherine Emmerich
referred to this blessing in many different connections, some of which
we will here enumerate in their chronological order. This was the same
blessing by means of which Eve was brought forth from the right side of
Adam. I saw this blessing withdrawn by God's merciful providence from
Adam when he was about to acquiesce in sin; but it was restored to
Abraham by the angel after the institution of circumcision, with the
promise of Isaac's birth. Abraham handed it on, with solemn sacramental
ceremony, to his first-born Isaac, from whom it descended to Jacob. It
was taken away from Jacob by the angel that strove with him and handed
on to Joseph in Egypt. Finally it was taken by Moses, together with the
bones of Joseph, in the night before the flight out of Egypt, and
became the Israelites' sacred treasure in the Ark of the Covenant. We
had just prepared these disclosures for the press, but with
considerable doubt and hesitation, when we learnt that the book Zohar
(ascribed to Simon Bar Jochai in the second century of our era)
reproduces almost word for word these and other statements of Catherine
Emmerich about this mystery of the Jewish Covenant. Anyone able to read
late Chaldean can convince himself of this by referring to the
following passages: Zohar Par. Tol'doth, pp. 340 and 345 (edit.
Sulzbach), Bereshith, p. 135, Terumah, pp. 251, etc. (CB) It would seem
that CB was slightly misled in regard to the Zohar, and it is unlikely
that he was in a position to examine it himself, since qualified
Hebraists and Aramaic scholars admit its great difficulty. The Zohar
does not appear to contain any notably close parallels with statements
of AC, either about the mystery of the Ark' (p. 16 ), or the holy
thing' within it (pp. 23 - 24 ), or about the blessing handed down
through the Patriarchs to Moses (p. 23 and CB's note above). The
references given by CB above are to the Hebrew (and Aramaic) text
published at Sulzbach in 1684, and refer to columns in the commentaries
on Genesis and Exodus. We are adding here the standard modern
references (to folios of the Mantua edition of 1588), which are also
inserted in the English translation by Sperling and Simon (London,
1931-1934). Bereshith (Genesis), col. 135 in Sulzbach (= f. 48b-49a,
standard), contains no relevant reference; but f. 55b (Sulzbach, col.
171), commenting on This is the book' ( Gen. 5.1), takes that phrase
literally and refers it to the story of the book containing sacred
wisdom, which was given by God through an angel to Adam, and then
handed down through the patriarchs and finally to Abraham. Toledoth
(Genesis), col. 340 in Sulzbach (= f. 146a, b, standard), recounts the
many occasions on which Jacob received a blessing. The next reference,
to col. 345 (=f. 148a, standard), belongs in fact to the next section
Wayyese, and discusses the mystical meaning of the stones picked up by
Jacob in Gen. 28.11. Terumah ( Exodus), col. 251 in Sulzbach (=f. 153b,
154a, standard), though commenting on the construction of the ark (
Exod. 25), has no reference to the mystery' or the holy thing'. A
little earlier, however, f. 145b (Sulzbach, col. 238) has a passing
reference to the heavenly mystery of the Holy of Holies. It seems
therefore legitimate to say that the Zohar, interesting though it is in
itself, throws very little light on the matter in hand. (SB)
[35] In Catherine Emmerich's visions of the public ministry of Our
Lord, which she daily recounted in chronological order for three years,
she saw Our Lord, after the raising of Lazarus (which happened on Oct.
7th of His third year of teaching), withdraw Himself beyond the Jordan
in order to escape the persecutions of the Pharisees. From here He
dismissed the apostles and disciples to their homes, and Himself went
on with three young men named Eliud, Silas, and Erimenzear. (These were
descended from the companions of the Three Kings who, when the latter
went away, had remained behind in the Holy Land and intermarried with
the families of the shepherds of Bethlehem.) With these Our Lord
journeyed to the place where the Three Kings were then settled,
returning afterwards to the Promised Land by way of Egypt. On the first
day of the January which preceded His death, He re-entered Judea, and
on the evening of Monday, Jan. 8th, He again met the Apostles at
Jacob's well, thereafter teaching and healing in Sychar, Ephron, round
Jericho, in Capharnaum, and in Nazareth. Towards February He came again
to Bethany and the surrounding country, teaching and healing in
Bethabara, Ephraim, and round Jericho. From the middle of February till
His Passion on March 30th. He was in Bethany and Jerusalem by turns.
The Evangelists are silent about the whole period between the raising
of Lazarus and Palm Sunday, except for St. John, who says (11.53, 54):
From that day therefore they devised to put him to death, wherefore
Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, but he went into a country
near the desert, to a city that is called Ephraim. And there he abode
with his disciples.' Catherine Emmerich mentions the presence of Our
Lord in Ephraim near Jericho on Jan. 14th, 15th, and 16th, and again
between Feb. 6th and 12th, without giving the exact date. We must,
however, return to what gave rise to this note. From Dec. 1st to the
15th of the third year of His ministry, Catherine Emmerich saw and
daily described the sojourn of Our Lord and His three companions in a
town of tents inhabited by the three Holy Kings of Arabia, where they
had established themselves shortly after their return from Bethlehem.
Two of these chieftains were still alive. She describes in most
remarkable detail their way of life and their religious practices and
the festivities with which they received Jesus. Amongst many other
things she recounted from Dec. 4th to 6th how these star-worshippers
brought Our Lord into their temple (which she described as a square
flattened pyramid surrounded with terraced wooden steps), from the top
of which they observed the stars and inside which they performed their
religious ceremonies. They showed Him in it the image of the Child
Jesus in the crib, which they had made and placed therein immediately
after their return from Bethlehem; this was made in the exact shape of
the one they had seen in the star before they set out on their journey
to Bethlehem. Catherine Emmerich describes it in the following words :
The whole representation was in gold and surrounded by a star-shaped
sheet of gold. The golden child lay on a red blanket in a crib like the
one at Bethlehem; his little hands were crossed on his breast and he
was wrapped in swaddling-bands from breast to feet. They had even
included the hay of the crib, it could be seen behind the child's head
like a little white wreath; I cannot remember what it was made of. They
showed Jesus this image; they had no other in their temple.' This is
her description of the image of the crib to which she refers above in
the text. (CB)
[36] This is the general tradition about the origins of the Carmelite
Order. It is briefly recounted in the Breviary Lessons for the Feast of
Our Lady of Mount Carmel (July 16th), where mention is also made of the
tradition that the cloud seen by Elijah (3 Kings 18.42-45) is a symbol
of Our Lady. (SB)
[37] In the Office for the Immaculate Conception and in other
liturgical books there occurs the following verse: As a cloud I covered
all the earth' ( Ecclus. 24.6), which is in complete harmony with this
prophetic vision of the Mother of God. (CB)
[38] Epiphanius, in his work on the life of the Prophet, says of
Jeremiah: This prophet gave the Egyptian priests a sign and told them
that all their idols would fall in pieces, when a virgin mother should
set foot in Egypt with her Divine Child. And so it befell. Therefore do
they to this day adore a Virgin Mother and a Child lying in the crib.
When King Ptolemy questioned them as to the reason therefore, they
answered, "This is a secret which we received from our ancestors to
whom it was announced by a holy prophet, and we await its fulfillment"'
( Epiphan., Vol. II, p. 240). The above-mentioned son of the prophet
sent to Egypt by Elijah cannot, however, be taken to be Jeremiah, for
the latter lived some three centuries later. (CB) This is presumably
the Greek Father, St. Epiphanius of Salamis, d. 403, but an examination
of various editions, old and new, has so far failed to identify the
passage. The quotation may be linked with Jeremiah' prophecy (43.13) of
the shattering of the idols of Egypt after his warning to the Jews who
had assassinated Gedaliah and were preparing to flee to Egypt ( Jer.
41-43). (SB)
[39] Since the description of this unfamiliar figure was not clear, an
archeologist used an antique image of Isis, which appeared appropriate,
to design Figure 4 without in the least needing to change the
description. (CB)
[40] This interpretation, alluded to but not definitely established by
earlier commentators, is shown by Biblical philology to be perfectly
correct. (CB) The names Azarias and Ananias both occur in Neh. 3.23,
where Ananias is in Hebrew Ananyah, which may mean the cloud of the
Lord', but the much commoner name is Hananyah, the Lord is merciful'.
Azaryah means the help of the Lord'. (SB)
[41] Many ancient and modern commentators of the Greek text have
suggested the following version of the passage in St. Luke (3.23 ): He
was supposed to be the son of Joseph, but was in truth descended from
Heli', instead of being as it was supposed the son of Joseph, who was
of Heli'. The absence of any mention of Mary (whose line of descent is,
however, given by St. Luke) is explained by the basic principle of the
Jewish genealogists: The father's race is called a race, the mother's
race is not called a race' (Talmud Baba Bathra, f. 110). The father of
Mary was, according to this rule, the first of Our Lord's forebears
according to the flesh who could be named in His line of descent.
Christ, who had no earthly father, may be as truly called, according to
the flesh, the son of Heli as Laban ( Gen. 29.5) could be called the
son of Nachor, and Zechariah ( Ezra 5.1) could be called the son of
Iddo, for these were both great-grandchildren. (CB) The emphasis on Our
Lord's Davidic descent ( Luke 1.32, 69) shows that Our Lady must also
have been of the Davidic line (see Fr. R. Ginns, OP., in Cath. Comm.,
1953, 748b). The interpretation proposed by CB requires a fresh
punctuation of Luke 3.23 (literal translation from the Greek): Jesus
... being the son (as it was supposed of Joseph) of Heli.' This
rendering, though according to Fr. Ginns ( ib., 750g) rejected by the
majority of scholars', is a tenable reading of the Greek. It involves
the interpretation of son' as grandson' through the mother, as CB
explains; and the identification of Heli with Joachim (cf. supra, n.
29, p. 22 ). The more usual reconciliation of the genealogies in Luke
and Matthew is by the supposition of a second marriage of Joseph's
mother. (SB)
[42] Catherine Emmerich no doubt meant by this the connection between
the line of David through Nathan and that through Solomon (see p. 32 ).
In the third generation upwards from Joachim, St. Joseph's grandmother
(who had married as her first husband Matthan, of the line of Solomon,
and had by him two sons, one of whom was Jacob, the father of St.
Joseph) took as her second husband Levi, of the line of Nathan, and had
by him Matthat, the father of Heli or Joachim. Thus Joachim and Joseph
were related to each other. It is remarkable that Raymundus Martini, in
his Pugio fidei (p. 745, ed. Carp), also states that St. Joseph's
grandmother after the death of Matthan married a second husband, from
whom Joachim was descended. (CB)
[43] Related on December 8th, 1819.
[44] Catherine Emmerich had visions of all the feasts of the Church
being celebrated by the Church Triumphant, even when they were no
longer celebrated on earth by the Church Militant. She saw these feasts
being celebrated in a shining transparent church, the shape of which
she generally described as octagonal. She saw a mysterious gathering of
all the saints who were particularly associated with the feast in
question, sharing in the celebrations. She usually saw this church
floating in the air; but it is noteworthy that in all the feasts having
so to speak a blood-relationship with Jesus Christ or with the
mysteries of His life, she saw this church not floating in the air but
appearing as the crown of a pillar or of a stern thrusting itself up
like a flower or fruit growing out of the earth. What, however,
surprised the writer in particular was that on all feasts of saints who
had received the stigmata (for instance, St. Francis of Assisi or St.
Catherine of Siena), she saw the church not floating in the air but on
the stem growing out of the earth. She never made any reflection on
this point, probably from humility, though it might well have been
edifying had she done so. (CB)
[45] Catherine Emmerich's remarks are here in agreement with the
accounts of the most ancient Jewish literature. Thus, for instance,
Mishnah, tract. Tamid, c. 5, and Sotah, c. I. (CB) Mishnah, Tamid, V,
7, states that the ceremonially unclean were to wait at the eastern
gate, but the tractate Sotah, I, 5, dealing with adultery, directs that
the woman be taken to the eastern or Nicanor's gate', where also lepers
and mothers awaiting purification' were to go. The Golden Gate' was
probably an eastern gate. An eastern gate is also mentioned in Middoth,
I, 9, in connection with ceremonial cleansing (see supra, n. 32, p. 24
). John 8.2 mentions that Our Lord was teaching in the Temple when He
spoke with the woman taken in adultery. (SB)
[46] Mountain of the Prophet' is the name given by Catherine Emmerich
to a place high above all the mountains of the world to which she was
taken for the first time on Dec. 10th, 1819, in her ecstatic state of
dream-journeying, and again several times later. There she saw the
books of prophetic revelation of all ages and all peoples preserved in
a tent and examined and superintended by someone who reminded her
partly of St. John the Evangelist and partly of Elijah--particularly of
the latter, since she perceived the chariot which had transported that
prophet from the earth standing here on the heights near the tent and
overgrown with green plants. This person then told her that he compared
with a great book lying before him all the books of prophetic knowledge
that had ever been given (often in a very confused state) or would in
future be given to mankind; and that much of these he crossed out or
destroyed in the fire burning at his side. Mankind, he said, was not
yet capable of receiving these gifts, another must first come, and so
forth. She saw all this on a green island in a lake of clear water. On
the island were many towers of different shapes, surrounded by gardens.
She had the impression that these towers were treasuries and reservoirs
of the wisdom of different peoples, and that under the island, which
was full of murmuring streams, lay the source of rivers held to be
sacred (the Ganges amongst them) whose waters issued forth at the foot
of the mountain range. The direction in which she was led to this
mountain of the Prophet was always (taking into account the
starting-point of her journey) towards the highest part of Central
Asia. She described places, natural scenery, human beings, animals, and
plants of the region which she traversed before being carried up
through a lonely and desolate space, as if through clouds, to the place
mentioned above. Her detailed description of this place, with all that
she experienced there, will be set down in its proper place with an
account of her whole visionary journey. On her return journey she was
carried down through the region of clouds once more, and then again
traversed lands rich in luxuriant vegetation and full of animals and
birds, until she reached the Ganges and saw the religious ceremonies of
the Indians beside this river. The geographical situation of this place
and Catherine Emmerich's statement that she had seen everything up
there overgrown with living green, reminded someone who read her
account twenty years later of traditions about a place of this kind
(sometimes with a similar inhabitant) in the religions of several
Asiatic peoples. The Prophet Elijah is known to the Musulmans (under
the name of Chiser, i.e. the Green One) as a wonderful half-angelic
being, who dwells in the north on a mountain known as Kaf, celebrated
in many religious and poetical writings, and there watches over secrets
at the source of the river of life. The Indians called their holy
mountain Meru, while to the Chinese it was Kuen-lun, both connected
with representations of a state of paradise and both situated on the
heights of Central Asia, where Catherine Emmerich saw the Mountain of
the Prophet. The ancient Persians also believed in such a place and
called it Elbors or Albordsch. According to Isa. 14.13 (I will sit in
the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north '), the
Babylonians would seem to have held a similar belief. That they, like
the Persians and Moslems, placed this mountain in the north is
explained by their geographical position as regards the mountains of
Central Asia. (CB)
[47] When the writer copied down the very detailed account of her
dealings with this Judith and her description of the place, he only
knew (from the direction taken by her journey) that she was in
Abyssinia; several years after her death he found in the journeys of
Bruce and Salt an account of a Jewish settlement on the high mountains
of Samen in Abyssinia. The ruler of this settlement was always called
Gideon and, if it was a woman, Judith--the name which Catherine
Emmerich herself mentioned. (CB) James Bruce, Travels and Adventures in
Abyssinia. He was one of the first Europeans to go there, and his
journey was in 1769. Henry Salt, A Voyage to Abyssinia. An account of a
journey made on behalf of His Majesty's Government in 1809-1810. (SB)
[48] In this connection it seems remarkable that among the writers of
the first centuries of the Christian era who reproduce the accusations
made by the heathens against the Christians, Minutius Felix mentions
this reproach among others that when the Christians initiated anyone
into their religion, they laid before him a child completely covered
with flour, so as to hide the murder which they were about to make him
commit. He was then obliged to stab the child over and over again with
a knife. They greedily sucked up the streaming blood, cut the child
into small pieces and devoured them all. This crime, committed in
common, was a mutual pledge of silence and secrecy in regard to other
shameful excesses with which they ended their assemblies. Should the
origin of this accusation perhaps be sought in the above-mentioned
sacrifice of children by the star-worshippers, who were among the first
followers of Christianity? In any case, it may well be supposed that
ideas of this kind (which, as we see in the case of the Magi, arise
from superstition and from misinterpretation of messages of salvation)
may be the hidden cause lying at the root of the murder of Christian
children by Jews. If this be so, these dark and cruel deeds must be
added to the many motives for which we have to pity the unfortunate
people of Israel rather than to despise them; for it conceals a
distorted longing for the Savior. This constantly recurring phenomenon
has so far as we know never been thoroughly investigated and elucidated
in a completely unprejudiced spirit. Of late years it has generally
been treated (like all historical riddles whose source is obscure) in a
complacent and condescending manner as being nothing but a fanatical
accusation. (CB) Minutius Felix, Octavius , IX, 5, and cf. XXX, 1 .
(SB)
[49] Just as the sacrifice on Calvary was accomplished by the cruelty
of ungodly priests and by the bloodthirsty hands of brutal
executioners, so is the sacrifice of the Mass, even when unworthily
celebrated, a true sacrifice; but the guilty and unworthy priest who
celebrates it plays the part not only of the Jewish priests who
condemned Our Lord but also of the soldiers who crucified Him. (CB)
[50] On July 5th, 1835, the writer discovered from Cardinal Baronius'
notes on the Martyrologium Romanum of December 8th that in the Sforza
Library there is a Codex (No. 65) containing a speech by the Emperor
Leo, who ascended the throne in 886, about this feast in
Constantinople. It appears from this speech that the celebration of the
feast was much anterior to this date. According to Canisius (De
beatissima virgine Maria, lib. I, c. 7) and Galatinus (De arcanis
catholicae veritatis, lib. 7, c. 5), the feast is included in the
Martyrology of St. John Damascene (d. A.D. 749). St. Sabbas, Abbot,
mentioned by Catherine Emmerich, is known for his devotion to Our Lady.
He died c. A.D. 500. (CB) The year of the death of St. Sabbas is given
in Ramsgate's Book of Saints (1947) as A.D. 532. (SB)
[51] It is remarkable that Catherine Emmerich does not give the name
(if Anselm) to the abbot who had the vision, since Petrus de Natal in
Catal. Sanct., lib.1 , c. 42, does so, as the writer discovered in July
1835. Her account seems to be supported by Baronius in his notes to the
Roman Martyrology for Dec. 4th, where he states that the announcement
was made, not to Anselm, but at an earlier date in 1070 in exactly
similar circumstances to Elsinus or Elpinus, a Benedictine abbot. This
is said to be stated also in J. Carthagena in his homilies De Arcanis
Deiparae, tom. 1, lib. 1, hom. 19, on the authority of a letter from
St. Anselm to the bishops of England. It was this holy Bishop of
Canterbury who first introduced the feast into England. (CB) Petrus de
Natalibus' Catalogus Sanctorum was published in Venice in 1506. As the
subsequent work of Baronius (1586, 1589) shows, AC is right in not
attributing the event to Anselm. The source of the Helsin legend, a
letter ascribed to Anselm, is now, however, considered to be spurious,
though this need not impugn the truth of the legend itself. The Anselm
mentioned by AC (with no title) is wrongly identified by CB with the
Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1109). It was his nephew, also called
Anselm, who introduced the feast into England when he became Abbot of
Bury, St. Edmund's in 1121, having doubtless become acquainted with the
feast as observed at the Greek abbey of St. Sabbas in Rome, where he
was abbot 1109-1121. Cf. Cath. Encyc., art. Immaculate' (Holweck), pp.
677b-678a. (SB)
[52] It was introduced in 1245 by the Chapter of the Cathedral of
Lyons, to which Bernard wrote to oppose it. (CB) The date should read
1140-1145. The reference is to St. Bernard's letter, To the Canons of
the Church of Lyons', traditionally numbered 174, and numbered
chronologically 215 (between 1140 and 1145) by Fr. Bruno Scott-James in
his recent (1953) translation. (SB)
[53] The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated, according to Lev.
23.34-36, for the seven days 15th to 21st Tisri, with an eighth day of
festival on the 22nd. The Hebrew lunar months do not correspond exactly
to our months, and Tisri falls in Sept./Oct. CB quite correctly
distinguishes the Dedication Feast of Solomon's Temple in the month
Tisri, celebrated in connection with the Feast of Tabernacles (3 Kings
8.2-66; 2 Chronicles 7.10), from the Dedication Feast on the 25th
Kislev, which commemorated the cleansing of the Temple by Judas
Maccabeus in 164 B.C. ( I Macc.4.52). This feast was also called
Hanukkah and the Feast of Lights' by Josephus (Ant. XII, vii, 7), and
Encaenia or Dedication' in the Gospel ( John 10.22). (SB)
[54] On Dec. 7th of the third year of Our Lord's ministry she saw a
temple of the Chaldeans about which she related the following: On a
neighboring hill they had a terraced pyramid with galleries, from which
they zealously watched the stars. They prophesied from the manner in
which animals moved and they interpreted dreams. They sacrificed
animals, but had a horror of the blood and always let it run away into
the earth. In their religious observances they had holy fire and holy
water, holy juice from a plant and little holy loaves of bread. Their
temple, oval in shape, was full of images very delicately wrought in
metal. They had a strong presentiment about the Mother of God. The
principal object in the Temple was a three-cornered pillar ending in a
point. On one side of this was an image with many arms and with
animals' feet. It held in its hands, among other things, a globe, a
diadem, a bunch of herbs, and a big ribbed apple held by its stalk. Its
face was like a sun with rays, it was many-breasted, and represented
the productive and preservative powers of nature. Its name sounded like
Miter or Mitras. On the other side of the pillar was the figure of an
animal with a horn. It was a unicorn, and its name sounded like Asphas
or Aspax. It was thrusting with its horn against another evil beast
which was on the third side. This had a head like an owl; it had a
curved beak, four legs with claws, two wings, and a tail ending like a
scorpion's. I have forgotten its name; indeed, I find it very difficult
to remember such outlandish names and often mix them up. I can only say
that they sounded something like this or that. Over the two fighting
beasts there was an image standing on the corner of the pillar which
was intended to represent the mother of all the gods. Its name sounded
like the Lady Aloa or Aloas. They also called her "corn granary ". A
cluster of high ears of corn grew out of its body: its head was pressed
down on to its shoulders and bent forward, for on the nape of its neck
it bore a vessel containing wine or about to do so. They had a saying:
"The Corn shall become bread, the grape shall become wine, for the
refreshment of all mankind." Over this image was a sort of crown, and
there were two letters on the pillar which looked to me like O and W
[perhaps Alpha and Omega]. What, however, surprised me most in this
temple was a little round garden, covered over with gold network and
standing on a bronze altar. Above it was the picture of a virgin. In
the middle of this garden was a fountain with several sealed basins one
above the other, in front of which was a green vine with a beautiful
red cluster of grapes which hung down into a dark-colored wine-press.
Its form reminded me vividly of the Holy Cross, but it was a
wine-press. Above in a hollow trunk was fixed a wide funnel with a bag
hanging from its spout. Two movable arms, fixed to each side of the
hollow trunk, were used as levers to press the grapes that were in the
bag so that the juice ran out of the trunk through openings made in it
lower down. The little round garden, which was about five to six feet
in diameter, was full of delicate green shrubs, flowers, fruits and
little trees which were all, like the vine, very lifelike and had the
same significance as it.' (See Canticle of Canticles 4.12.) (CB)
[55] In a vision of the Blessed Virgin she had received the promise
that on the next day, Sept. 8th (which was also her own birthday), she
would be granted the favor of sitting up in bed for several weeks,
leaving the bed and walking about the room several times, which she had
been unable to do for some ten years. The fulfillment of this promise
was attended by all the spiritual and bodily sufferings which had been
announced to her at the time, as will be recounted in its proper place.
(CB)
[56] The main feature of the story, the holy man who heard music in the
air and, on asking what it was, received a revelation about Mary's
birthday, which then led to its general observance, is found in the
Legenda Aurea of B. James of Voragine, O.P. (c. 1255) for Sept. 8th.
The oldest documentary evidence for the feast is from the sixth
century, and its general acceptance not until the eighth or ninth
(Cath. Encyc., art. Nativity' (Holweck), p. 712d). (SB)
[57] See Lev. 12.
__________________________________________________________________
III. THE PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN IN THE TEMPLE [58]
1. PREPARATION IN ST. ANNE'S HOUSE.
[On October 28 ^th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich described in these words
what she was at that moment seeing in a waking vision:] The child Mary
will, I think, soon be brought to the Temple in Jerusalem. Already some
days ago I saw the three-year-old child Mary standing before Anna in a
room in her house and being instructed in her prayers, as the priests
were soon to come to examine the child in preparation for her reception
in the Temple. Today a feast in preparation for this event is taking
place in Anna's house, and guests are gathering there--relations, men,
women, and children. There are also three priests, one from Sephoris (a
nephew of Anna's father), one from Nazareth, and a third from a place
on a mountain some four hours from Nazareth. The name of this place
begins with the syllable Ma. [59] These priests have come partly to
examine the child Mary to see whether she is fitted for dedication to
the Temple, and partly to give directions about her clothing, which has
to comply with a prescribed ecclesiastical pattern. There were three
sets of garments, each consisting of a kind of petticoat, a bodice, and
a robe of different colors. There were also two wreaths of silk and
wool, and an arched crown. One of the priests himself cut out some
pieces of these garments and arranged everything as it should be.
[A few days later (on November 2 ^nd) Catherine Emmerich continued:]
Today I saw great festivities in the house of Mary's parents. (I am not
sure whether this actually happened then or whether it was a repetition
of an earlier vision, for I had seen something like it before during
the last three days, but because of much suffering and many
interruptions it escaped my mind.) The three priests were still there,
and besides them there were several relations of the family with their
little daughters; for instance, Mary Heli and her seven-year-old child
Mary Cleophas, who is much stouter and sturdier than the child Mary.
Mary is very delicately formed, and has reddish-fair hair, smooth, but
curly at the ends. She can already read, and all are astonished at the
wise answers she gives. Maraha, Anna's sister from Sephoris, is also
there with a little daughter, and so are other relations with their
little girls.
The garments, which had been partly cut out by the priests, had now
been finished by the women. During the ceremony the child was dressed
in them several times and asked various questions. It was all very
solemn and serious, and though the old priests sometimes smiled gently
during the proceedings, they were greatly impressed by Mary's wise
answers and by her parents' tears of joy. The ceremony took place in a
square room near the eating room. It was lit by an opening in the roof
covered with gauze. A red carpet was spread on the floor, and on this
stood an altar table with a red cloth and a white one over it. Above
this table was a picture in some sort of embroidery or needlework which
hung like a curtain in front of a kind of little cupboard containing
scrolls of writings and prayers. (It was a picture of a man, I think of
Moses. He was dressed in a flowing praying-mantle like the one he wore
when he went up the mountain to ask something of God. In the picture he
was not holding the Tables of the Law in his hand; they were hanging at
his side or on his arm. Moses was very tall and broad-shouldered. He
had red hair. His head was very long and pointed, like a sugarloaf, and
he had a big hooked nose. On his broad forehead he had two
protuberances like horns, turned inwards towards each other. They were
not hard like animals' horns, but had soft skin, as it were ribbed or
streaked, and only projected slightly from the forehead like two small
lumps, brownish and wrinkled. He already had them as a child, but then
they were little warts. This gave him a very strange appearance, which
I never liked because it reminded me involuntarily of pictures of
Satan. I have several times seen protuberances like these on the
foreheads of old prophets and of some old hermits. Some of these had
only one, in the middle of the forehead.) On the altar lay Mary's three
sets of ceremonial garments as well as many other stuffs presented by
her relations on the occasion of the child's entry into the Temple.
There was a sort of little throne raised on steps in front of the
altar. Joachim and Anna and the other relations were gathered round,
the women standing at the back and the little girls beside Mary. The
priests entered barefooted. There were five of them, but only three
took part in the ceremony in their vestments. One of the priests took
the garments from the altar, explained their significance, and handed
them to Anna's sister from Sephoris, who dressed the child in them.
First of all she put on her a little yellow knitted dress, and over it
a colored scapulary or bodice decorated at the breast with cords. It
was put over her head and tied round her. Over this she wore a brownish
robe with armholes, over which hung pieces of the stuff. This robe was
open at the neck, but closed from the breast downwards. Mary wore brown
sandals with thick green soles. Her reddish-fair hair, curling at the
ends, had been combed smooth, and she wore a wreath of white wool or
silk ornamented at intervals with striped feathers, of a finger's
breadth and curving inwards. I know the bird in that country from which
these feathers come. A big square cloth, ash-gray in color, was then
thrown over the child's head like a cloak. It could be drawn together
under the arms, which rested in its folds as in slings. It seemed to be
a penitential or praying garment or a traveling cloak.
As Mary stood there in this dress, the priests put to her all manner of
questions which had to do with the way of life of the virgins of the
Temple. Among other things they said to her: When your parents
dedicated you to the Temple, they made a vow on your behalf that you
should never taste wine, vinegar, grapes, or figs; what will you
yourself now add to this? You may reflect on this during the meal. Now
the Jews, and especially the Jewish girls, were very fond of drinking
vinegar, and so was Mary. After more of such questions, the first set
of garments was removed and the second put on. First a sky-blue dress,
then a bodice more ornamented than the first one, a bluish-white robe,
and a white veil shimmering like silk, with folds at the back of the
neck like a nun's headdress and fastened round the head by a wreath of
silk flower buds with little green leaves. Then the priests put a white
veil over her face, drawn together above so as to cover her head like a
hood. It was held by three clasps which enabled the veil to be thrown
back to uncover either a third, a half, or the whole of the face. She
was instructed in the use of this veil: how it was to be lifted and
then dropped at meals, and when she had to give answers to questions,
and so forth. She was also instructed in many other rules of behavior
during the meal of which the whole party partook in the next room.
Mary's place at table was between two priests, with another facing her.
The women and little girls were at one end of the table, separate from
the men. During the meal the child was examined several times by
question and answer in the use of the veil. They also said to her: You
are still allowed to eat any kind of food', and handed her various
dishes in order to test her power of self-denial. But Mary partook of
only few dishes and but little of each, and filled her hearers with
great amazement by the childlike wisdom of her answers. I saw that
during the meal and during the whole examination there were angels
beside her, helping and guiding her.
When the meal was over, all went once more into the other room and
stood before the altar, where the child was again undressed and then
clothed in ceremonial garments. [Please refer to Figure 5.] This time
she wore a violet-blue dress woven with a pattern of yellow flowers;
over this was a bodice or corset embroidered in different colors ending
in a point and fastening under the arms, where it gathered and held the
fullness of the dress. Above this was a violet-blue robe, fuller and
grander than the other ones, and ending in a short, rounded train. Down
each side of the front of this robe were embroidered three silver
stripes with what seemed to be little gold rosebuds strewn between
them; the robe was fastened across the breast by a band which ran
through and was held by a clasp on the bodice. The robe was open down
to the lower edge of the bodice, and formed two pockets at the sides in
which the arms rested. Below the bodice the robe was fastened with
buttons or hooks, but showed five stripes of the silver embroidery
running down to the hem. The hem itself was also embroidered. The back
of this robe fell in ample folds, projecting beyond the arms on either
side. Over this was thrown a great gleaming veil shot with colors,
white and violet-blue. The crown which was now put on her head was a
broad band of thin metal, wider above than below, its upper edge
surmounted by points with knobs. Over the top of the crown five metal
bands met in a central knob. These bands were covered with strands of
silk, and the outside of the broad metal band was ornamented with
little silk roses and five pearls or precious stones. The inside of the
band shone like gold. Mary, dressed in these ceremonial garments, the
significance of each of which had been explained to her by the priest,
was led up the steps and placed before the altar. The little girls
stood beside her. She then declared what she would bind herself to give
up when in the Temple. She said that she would eat neither meat nor
fish and would drink no milk, but only a drink made out of the pith of
a reed and water, such as poor people drink in the Promised Land, like
rice-water or barley-water with us; sometimes she would put a little
terebinth juice into the water. This is like a white treacly oil, very
refreshing but not so delicate as balsam. She gave up all spices, and
said that she would eat no fruit except a kind of yellow berry that
grows in clusters. I know it well; in that country it is eaten only by
children and poor people. She said that she would sleep on the bare
earth and would rise three times in the night to pray. The other temple
maidens rose only once.
Figure 5. Mary in ceremonial garments.
Mary's parents were deeply moved by her words. Joachim, taking the
child in his arms, said, weeping: O, my dear child, that is too hard,
your old father will never see you again if you mean to live so
austerely.' It was very touching to hear. The priests, however, told
her that she was to rise only once in the night, like the others, and
they made the other conditions milder. For example, on great feast days
she was to eat fish. (There was a great fish market in Jerusalem in the
lower part of the town supplied with water from the pool of Bethesda.
Once when it dried up, Herod wanted to make an aqueduct and fountain,
[60] and to meet the expense by selling sacred vessels and vestments
from the Temple. This caused a real uproar. The Essenes came from all
parts of the country to Jerusalem to resist it, for, as I have just
remembered, it was the Essenes who had charge of the priestly
vestments.)
The priests also said to the child Mary: Many of those virgins who are
accepted by the Temple without payment or outfit are obliged, with the
consent of their parents, to wash, as soon as they are strong enough,
the bloodstained garments of the priests and other rough woolen cloths.
This is hard work and often means bloody hands. But this you need not
do, seeing that your parents are paying for your sojourn in the
Temple.' Mary declared at once without hesitation that she would gladly
undertake this work if she were considered worthy. While these
questions and answers were being made, the clothing ceremony came to an
end. During these holy proceedings I often saw Mary appear so tall
among the priests that she stood high above them, whereby I was given a
picture of her wisdom and grace. The priests were filled with joyful
astonishment. At the end of the ceremony I saw Mary being blessed by
the first among the priests. She stood on a little elevated throne
between two priests, and the one who blessed her stood facing her, with
others behind him. The priests prayed from scrolls, answering each
other, and the first one held his hands over her as he blessed her. At
this moment I was granted a wonderful insight into the inner being of
the holy child Mary. I saw her as if transfused with light by the
priest's blessing, and under her heart in an indescribable glory of
light I saw the same appearance as I had seen in contemplating the Holy
of Holies in the Ark of the Covenant. In a shining space shaped like
Melchizedek's chalice I saw indescribable figures of the blessing in
the form of light. It was as though corn and wine, flesh and blood,
were striving to unite with each other. I saw at one and the same time
how, above this appearance, her heart opened like a temple door; and
how this mystery, surrounded by a kind of canopy of symbolic jewels,
passed into her opened heart. It was as though I saw the Ark of the
Covenant entering the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Thenceforth, the
highest good then on earth was enshrined in her heart. Then I saw only
the holy child Mary filled with a glow of burning devotion. I saw her
as though transfigured and hovering above the ground. During this
vision I perceived that one of the priests (I think it was Zechariah)
had been inspired with an inner conviction that Mary was the chosen
vessel of the mystery of salvation; for I saw him receive, a ray from
the blessing which in my vision had entered into her.
The priests now led the child, blessed and arrayed in her finest
ceremonial garments, up to her parents, who were much moved. Anna
lifted Mary up to her breast and gave her an affectionate but solemn
kiss. Joachim, with deep emotion, gave her his hand seriously and
reverently. Mary's elder sister embraced the blessed child in her
beautiful dress in a much more lively manner than Anna, who did
everything with reflection and moderation. Mary Cleophas, Mary's niece,
threw her arms joyfully round her neck like any child. After Mary had
been saluted by all present, her ceremonial garments were taken off,
and she appeared once more in her ordinary ones. Towards evening
several of the guests, including some of the priests, went away to
their homes. I saw them standing up to take a light meal; there were
fruits and rolls of bread in bowls and dishes on a low table. They all
drank out of one goblet. The women ate separately.
2. THE DEPARTURE OF THE CHILD MARY FOR THE TEMPLE.
I came into the house of Mary's parents at nighttime, and saw several
of their relations asleep there. The family themselves were busy with
preparations for departure. The hanging lamp with many branches was
burning before the hearth. Little by little I saw the whole house
astir.
Joachim had sent menservants the morning before to the Temple with
beasts for sacrifice; five of each kind, the best he had. They made a
very fine herd. I saw him now busy loading the luggage on a pack animal
standing before the house. Mary's clothes were neatly arranged in
separate packages and tied onto the animal, together with presents for
the priests. It made quite a heavy load. A broad package was arranged
to make a comfortable seat in the middle of the animal's back. Anna and
the other women had packed everything in bundles which were easy to
load. I also saw several kinds of baskets hanging at the donkey's
sides. In one of these baskets, rounded like the tureens that rich
people have for their soup, with a lid opening in the middle, there
were birds of the size of partridges. Other baskets, like the ones used
for carrying grapes, contained different kinds of fruit. When the
loading was quite finished, a big cover with heavy hanging tassels was
put over everything. In the house I saw all the stir and agitation of
departure. I saw a young woman, Mary's elder sister, moving about with
a lamp. I saw her daughter Mary Cleophas following her about most of
the time. I noticed yet another woman whom I took to be a maidservant.
I also now saw two priests there. One was a very old man wearing a hood
which hung down in a point on his forehead and had flaps over his ears.
His upper garment was shorter than the under one and had straps like a
stole hanging on it. It was he who had taken the chief part in Mary's
examination yesterday and blessed her. I saw him continuing to talk to
the child and teaching her different things. Mary was a little more
than three years old, very delicately and finely made, and was as
developed as a child of five with us. She had reddish-fair hair,
smooth, but curly at the ends; it was longer than the seven-year old
Mary Cleophas' fair hair, which was short and curly. Most of the
children and grown-up people wore long robes of brownish undyed wool.
I was particularly struck by two boys among this company who did not
seem to belong to the family at all and held no converse with any of
them. It seemed as if no one even saw them, though they spoke to me,
and were very charming and attractive with their fair curly hair. They
had books which seemed to be for learning from. (Little Mary had no
book, though she could read already.) Their books were not like ours,
but strips some two feet wide rolled round a stick with a projecting
knob at each end. The taller of the two boys opened his scroll and came
up to me, and read something out of it which he explained to me. The
golden letters, each one of which stood alone, were quite strange to
me; they were written the wrong way round, and each letter seemed to
signify a whole word. The language was completely strange to my ears,
yet I understood it. Unfortunately I have now forgotten what he
explained to me, but I think it had to do with Moses; perhaps it will
come back to me. The younger of the boys held his scroll in his hands
as if it were a toy; he jumped about like a child and played with his
scroll, swinging it in the air. I cannot at all express how much I was
attracted by these children; they were different from all the people
there, who seemed not to notice them at all.
[Catherine Emmerich spoke for a long time with childlike delight of
these two boys but could not clearly say who they really were. After,
however, having eaten and then slept for a few minutes, she recollected
herself and said:] It was the spiritual meaning of these boys that I
saw; their presence there was not a natural one. They were only the
symbolic representations of prophets. The taller of the two, the one
who carried his scroll so solemnly, showed me in it the passage in the
third chapter of the book of Exodus where Moses sees the Lord in the
burning bush and is told to put off his shoes from his feet. He
explained this to me; as the bush was on fire without being burnt, so
now the fire of the Holy Spirit was burning in the child Mary, who, all
unconscious of it, was bearing this holy flame within her. [61] This
passage also, he said, foreshadowed the union, now approaching, of the
Godhead with humanity. The fire signified God, the thorn bush mankind.
The boy also explained to me the meaning of the putting off of the
shoes, but I have no clear recollection of what he said; I think it
signified the removal of the outer covering to disclose the reality
within; and foreshadowed the fulfillment of the law and the coming of
One greater than Moses and the prophets. The other boy carried his
scroll at the end of a thin stick, blowing in the wind like a flag;
this signified the joyous entry of Mary on the path which was leading
her to her destiny as the Mother of the Redeemer. The childish behavior
of this boy as he played with his scroll showed how Mary, though
overshadowed by so great a Promise and called to so holy a destiny,
kept all the innocent playfulness of a child. Actually these boys
explained to me seven passages out of their scrolls, but in the
interruptions and troubles of daily life I have forgotten everything
except what I have now told. O my God [she here exclaimed], all that I
see is so beautiful and so deep, so simple and so clear, and yet I
cannot tell it properly and cannot help forgetting so much because of
the miserable, detestable happenings of this wretched earthly life.
[62]
[A year earlier, in the middle of November 1820, Catherine Emmerich,
while communicating her visions of the Presentation, referred to the
appearance of these boy-prophets in the following connection. On the
evening of November 16 ^th a penitential girdle was brought near
Catherine Emmerich when she was asleep. It had been made by a man who
was striving to mortify himself but was without any spiritual advice or
direction. He had made it with much exaggerated austerity out of
leather straps pierced with nails, but he had been able to wear it for
hardly an hour. Though it was two feet away from her, the sleeping
Catherine Emmerich quickly drew her hands away from this girdle,
saying:] O that is quite impossible and senseless! I, too, once wore a
girdle like this for a long time, in accordance with an inner warning.
It was a means of mortification and self-conquest, but was made of
quite short spikes of brass wire set close together. This is a really
murderous girdle; the man has taken great pains in making it, but could
only wear it for a few minutes. One should never do anything like this
without the approval of a wise director of souls: he did not know that,
of course, because he had no director at hand. Such exaggeration does
more harm than good!
[Next morning she recounted the visions of the night in the form of a
dream-journey. She said, among other things:]
Hereupon I came to Jerusalem, at what period I am not sure, but it was
in the time of the old Jewish kings. I have forgotten what I saw. Then
I was made to go towards Nazareth to the house of Anna, the Blessed
Virgin's holy mother. Before the city of Jerusalem two boys joined me
who were going the same way: one held a scroll very solemnly in his
hand, while the younger had tied his scroll to a little stick and was
merrily playing with it in the wind as if it were a little flag. They
spoke to me joyfully about the fulfillment of the time in their
prophecies, for they were figures of prophets. I had with me that man's
exaggerated penitential girdle which had been brought me, and showed
it, by I know not what impulse, to the prophet boy who was Elijah. He
said to me, That is a belt of torture not allowed to be worn. But on
Mount Carmel I made and wore a girdle and have bequeathed it to all the
children of my order, the Carmelites. That man should wear this girdle,
it will profit him far more'. Thereupon he showed me a girdle of a
hand's breadth on which all kinds of letters and lines were inscribed,
signifying various conquests and struggles, and he indicated various
parts of it, saying, That man could wear this for eight days and this
for one day', and so on. O, how I wish the good man could know that!
When we came near to Anna's house and I wanted to go in, I could not do
so, and my leader, my guardian angel, said to me: You must first of all
lay much aside, you must be nine years old.' I did not know how this
was to be done, but he helped me, I cannot remember how. Three years of
my life had to disappear altogether, those three years when I was so
vain about my clothes and always wanted to be a smart young girl. Well,
I was suddenly nine years old, and now I was able to go into the house
with the prophet boys. As I did so, the three-year-old child Mary came
up to me and measured herself against me; she was just the same height
as me when she stood up by me. How kind and friendly she was, and at
the same time so serious!
3. BEGINNING THE JOURNEY.
Immediately after I was standing in the house beside the boy-prophets.
Nobody seemed to notice us, and we got in nobody's way. Though they had
been old men hundreds of years ago, they were not at all surprised at
being present there as young boys: and I, though a nun over forty years
old, was not at all surprised either at being now a poor peasant child
of nine years. When one is with these holy people, one is surprised at
nothing, except at the blindness and sinfulness of mankind.
I saw the travelers starting on their journey to Jerusalem at daybreak.
The child Mary came running out of the house to the pack animals, so
eager was she to go to the Temple. The boy-prophets and I stood at the
door following her with our eyes. They again showed me passages in
their scrolls, one of which spoke of the glory of the Temple, but added
that even greater glory was contained within it. The travelers had two
pack animals with them. One of the donkeys which was heavily loaded was
led by a servant and was always a little ahead of the party. On the
other donkey, which stood loaded before the house, a seat had been
prepared, and Mary was placed on this. She wore the little yellow dress
from the first set of garments, and was wrapped in the big cloak, which
was drawn round her so that her arms rested in its folds. Joachim, who
led this donkey, carried a tall staff like a pilgrim's with a big round
knob at the top. Anna walked a short way ahead with little Mary
Cleophas. A maidservant accompanied them on the whole journey, and some
of the women and children went part of the way with them. They were
relations, and turned off to their homes where the roads parted. One of
the priests also accompanied the party for a little time.
They had a light with them, but it disappeared completely in the light
which in my visions of night journeys always illuminates the road about
the Holy Family and other holy persons, though they themselves never
seem to see it. At first it seemed to me that I was walking with the
boy-prophets behind the child Mary, and afterwards, when she was on
foot, at her side. I sometimes heard the boys singing the 44 ^th Psalm
(Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum) and the 49 ^th (Deus deorum Dominus
locutus est), and they told me that these psalms would be sung by two
choirs at the reception of the child in the Temple, as I should see
when they arrived.
I saw the road going downhill at first and later rising again. When it
was morning and full day, I saw the travelers resting beside a spring
from which ran a brook; there was a meadow there, and they rested
beside a hedge of balsam shrubs. These shrubs always had stone basins
under them to catch the balsam that dripped from them, thus providing
the passers-by with a refreshing drink, with which they could also fill
their jugs. In the hedges there were berries which they picked and ate.
They also had little rolls of bread to eat. The boy-prophets had by now
disappeared. One of them was Elijah; I think the other was Moses. I am
sure that the child Mary saw them, but she said nothing about it. She
saw them just as, when one is a child, one often sees holy children
appearing to one (or when one is grown-up, one sees holy virgins or
youths) without saying anything of it to others, because in such
moments one is in a state of quiet contemplation.
Later I saw the travelers stop at a house standing by itself, where
they were made welcome and were given food. The people who lived there
seemed to be relations. Little Mary Cleophas was sent back from here.
During the day I had several glimpses of their journey, a rather
difficult one. They had to pass over hill and dale, and in the valleys
there were often cold mists and much dew, though here and there I saw
sunny patches where flowers were showing. Before reaching their resting
place for the night they crossed a little stream. They spent the night
at an inn at the foot of a hill on which there is a town. Unfortunately
I can no longer say for certain what was the name of this place. I saw
it on other journeys of the Holy Family, and can easily be mistaken
about its name. [63] I can only say this much, but not with certainty;
they traveled in the same direction that Jesus followed in the
September of His thirtieth year, when He went from Nazareth to Bethany
and thence to be baptized by John. The Holy Family took the same way on
their flight from Nazareth to Egypt. On that flight their first shelter
was at Nazara, a small place between Massaloth and a hill town, but
nearer the latter. I see so many places around me and hear so many
names that I may very easily mix them up. This town stretches up the
hillside and is divided into several different parts, though all
belonging to each other. There is a great lack of water there, and it
has to be drawn up from below with ropes. There are several old towers
in ruins, and on the top of the hill is a sort of watchtower with a
structure of beams and ropes for hauling things up from the town below.
The many ropes make it look rather like the masts of a ship. It must be
an hour's climb to the top of the hill. (The travelers stopped at an
inn down below.) There is a very extensive view from this hill. Part of
this town is inhabited by heathen people who were treated by the Jews
as slaves and forced to do hard labor; for instance, they were made to
work at the Temple and other buildings.
[On November 4 ^th, 1821, she said:] This evening I saw Joachim and
Anna with the child Mary and a maidservant arrive at an inn twelve
hours distant from Jerusalem. They were accompanied by a manservant who
often went ahead with the heavily loaded donkey. Here they caught up
with the herd of their beasts on the way to the Temple to be
sacrificed; these, however, continued at once on their road. Joachim
must have been very well known here, for he was as if in his own house.
His beasts for sacrifice always used to stop here. He also came here
when he returned to Nazareth from his hidden life among the shepherds.
I saw the child Mary asleep here beside her mother. (I have had so much
to do these days with the Holy Souls that I think it has made me forget
part of the journey to the Temple.)
[On November 5 ^th, 1821, she related:] This evening I saw the child
Mary with her parents arrive in a town to the northwest of Jerusalem,
barely six hours' journey from it. This town is called Bethoron and
lies at the foot of a hill. On the way they crossed a stream flowing
westwards into the sea near Joppa, where Peter taught after the coming
of the Holy Ghost. Great battles were once fought near Bethoron. I saw
them, but have forgotten them again. [64] (See Joshua 10.11) It was
about two hours' journey from here to a place on a high road from where
one could see Jerusalem. I heard the name of this road or place, but
cannot distinctly recall it. [65]
Bethoron is a large town, inhabited by Levites. Very fine, big grapes
grow here, and many other fruits as well. The Holy Family stayed with
friends in a well-kept house. The man was a schoolteacher; it was a
Levite school, and there were a number of children in the house. I was
much surprised to see here several women related to Anna, with their
little daughters, who were, I had thought, on the way to their own
homes. However, as I now saw, they had taken a shorter road and had
arrived here first, I suppose in order to welcome the travelers. These
women and children were from Nazareth, Sephoris, Zabulon, and
thereabouts; some of them had already been in Anna's house during the
examination; for instance, Mary's elder sister and her little daughter
Mary Cleophas, and Anna's sister from Sephoris with her daughters. The
stay here was made the occasion of great rejoicing over the child Mary.
She was led into a big room accompanied by the other children, and was
placed on a raised seat with a canopy, arranged for her like a little
throne. The schoolteacher and others again asked her all manner of
questions, putting wreaths on her head. All were astonished by the
wisdom of her answers. I also heard about the cleverness of another
girl who had passed through here a short time ago on her way home from
the Temple school. Her name was Susanna, and later she followed Jesus
with the holy women. It was her place that Mary was to take in the
Temple, for there was a limited number of such places. Susanna was
fifteen years old when she left the Temple, and thus about eleven years
older than Mary. Anna, too, had been educated in the Temple, but did
not go there till she was five years old. The child Mary was
exceedingly joyful at being so near the Temple; I saw Joachim pressing
her to his heart in tears, and saying: O my child, I fear I shall not
see you again.'
A meal was now prepared, and while all were reclining at table I saw
Mary running about full of loving gaiety, some times nestling against
her mother or standing behind her and throwing her little arms round
her neck.
[On November 6 ^th, 1821:] Today very early I saw the travelers leaving
Bethoron for Jerusalem. All their relations, the children, and the
people of the inn went with them. They took with them presents of
clothing and fruit for the child. It looks to me as if there were going
to be great festivities in Jerusalem. I learnt for certain that Mary
was three years and three months old, but she was like a little girl of
five or six in our country. Their journey did not take them through
either Ussen Scheera or Gophna, though they were known in those places;
but they must have passed near them.
4. ARRIVAL IN JERUSALEM.
[In the evening of November 6 ^th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich said:]
Today at midday I saw the arrival in Jerusalem of the child Mary with
those accompanying her. Jerusalem is a strange city; one must not
picture it with crowded streets like, for instance, Paris. In Jerusalem
are many valleys, steep ways winding behind city walls. No doors or
windows are to be seen, for the houses, which stand on high ground,
face away from the walls New quarters have been added one by one, each
enclosing a fresh ridge of hill, but leaving the old town walls
standing between them. These valleys are often spanned by solid stone
bridges. The living rooms of the houses usually face on to inner
courts; on the street side only the door is to be seen, or perhaps a
terrace high up on the top of the wall. The houses are very much shut
up. Unless the inhabitants have business in the markets or are visiting
the Temple, they spend most of their time in the inner rooms and
courtyards. In general the streets of Jerusalem are rather quiet,
except near the markets and palaces, where crowds of travelers and
soldiers and people going in and out of the houses fill the streets
with life and movement. Rome is much more pleasantly situated; its
streets are not so steep and narrow and are much more lively. When all
the people of Jerusalem are assembled in the Temple, many of the
districts of the city seem quite dead. (It was because of the seclusion
of the inhabitants within their houses and of the number of deserted
valley paths that Jesus was so often able to go about the city with His
disciples undisturbed.) Water is scarce in Jerusalem, and one often
sees great structures of arches with channels to carry it in different
directions, also towers to the top of which it is driven or pumped. In
the Temple, where a great deal of water is needed for washing and
cleansing the vessels, it is used very carefully. It is brought up from
below by means of large pumping works. There are a great many dealers
in the city: they usually group themselves with others of the same
trade, and set up lightly-made huts in open places and markets
surrounded by porticoes. There are, for instance, not far from the
Sheep Gate many dealers in every kind of metalwork, gold, and precious
stones. They have light round huts, brown, as if smeared with pitch or
resin. Although light, these huts are quite strong; they are used as
dwellings, and awnings are stretched from one to another under which
the wares are set out.
The gentler slope of the hill on which the Temple lies is terraced with
several streets of houses, built one above the other behind thick
walls. These are inhabited partly by priests and partly by inferior
temple servants charged with menial duties, such as cleaning out the
trenches into which is cast all the refuse from animals slaughtered in
the Temple. On one side [she means the northern one] [66] the Temple
hill falls very steeply into a black gully. Little gardens belonging to
the priests make a green strip round the top of the hill. Work on the
Temple never ceased: even in Christ's lifetime building was going on in
different parts of it. There was a quantity of ore in the Temple hill,
which was dug out in the course of building and made use of. There are
many vaults and smelting furnaces under the Temple. I never found a
good place in the Temple to pray in. It is all so extraordinarily
solid, heavy, and high. And the little courts are themselves so narrow,
and dark, and so encumbered with seats and other things, that when
there are great multitudes, the narrow spaces and the crowds between
the thick high walls and pillars, have a really terrifying effect. The
perpetual slaughtering and all the blood filled me, too, with horror,
though all is performed with incredible order and cleanliness. It is a
long time, I think, since I saw so clearly as I do today all the
buildings, inside and out; but there is so much to describe that I
shall never be able to do so properly.
The travelers, with the child Mary, approached Jerusalem from the
north, but did not enter it on that side. As soon as they reached the
outlying gardens and palaces, they skirted the town, turning east
through part of the valley of Josaphat, leaving the Mount of Olives and
the road to Bethany on their left, and entered the city by the Sheep
Gate, which leads to the cattle market. By this gate is a pool, in
which the sheep destined for sacrifice are washed for the first time to
remove the heavy dirt. But this is not the Pool of Bethesda. [67] The
little company soon turned again to the right between walls as though
going to another quarter of the town. On their way they passed through
a long valley, on one side of which rose the towering walls of one of
the upper parts of the city. They went towards the western side of
Jerusalem, to the neighborhood of the fish market, where the ancestral
house of Zechariah of Hebron stood. In it was a very old man; I think
he was a brother of Zechariah's father. Zechariah always stayed here
when he performed his service at the Temple. He was in the city now;
his time of service had just come to an end, but he had remained a few
days longer in Jerusalem on purpose to be present at Mary's reception
in the Temple. He was not in his house when the company arrived. There
were yet other relations in the house, from the neighborhood of
Bethlehem and Hebron, with their children, amongst them two little
nieces of Elizabeth, who was not there herself. These all went out with
many young girls, carrying little garlands and branches, to meet the
travelers, who were still a quarter of an hour away on the valley path.
They gave them a joyful welcome, and led them to Zechariah's house,
where great rejoicings took place. They were given some refreshment,
and then preparations were made to conduct the whole company to a
ceremonial inn in the neighborhood of the Temple. Joachim's beasts for
sacrifice had already been brought from near the cattle market to
stables near this special inn. Zechariah now came to lead the company
from his house to the inn. The child Mary was dressed in the second set
of ceremonial garments with the sky-blue dress. A procession was
formed, headed by Zechariah with Joachim and Anna. Mary followed,
surrounded by four girls dressed in white, and behind them came the
other children and relations. They went along several streets, passing
the palace of Herod and the house where, later, Pilate lived. Their way
led them towards the northeastern corner of the Temple hill; behind
them was the fortress Antonia, a big high building on the north-western
side of the Temple. They had to climb a high wall by a flight of many
steps. They wanted to take the child Mary by the hand, but to
everyone's surprise she ran up swiftly and joyfully by herself.
The house they were going to was a ceremonial inn not far from the
cattle market. There were four of these inns round the Temple, and this
one had been hired for them by Zechariah. It was a large building, with
a big courtyard surrounded by a kind of cloister with sleeping places
and long, low tables. There was also a large room with a hearth for
cooking. The place to which Joachim's sacrificial beasts had been taken
was near by. On each side of it were the dwellings of the Temple
servants who had charge of the animals for sacrifice.
When the company entered the inn, their feet were washed, as is the
custom with new arrivals; the men's feet were washed by men, the
women's by women. Then they went into a room where a big many-branched
lamp hung from the middle of the ceiling over a large metal basin with
handles, full of water, in which they washed their hands and faces.
Joachim's pack-donkey was unloaded and led by the manservant to the
stable.
Joachim, who had given notice of his intention to sacrifice, followed
the Temple servants to the near-by stables, where they inspected his
beasts.
Joachim and Anna then made their way with the child Mary to a priest's
house higher up the hill. Here, too, the child ran up the steps with
surprising energy as though upheld and urged by a spiritual force. The
two priests in this house, one very old and one younger, gave them a
friendly welcome; both had been present at Mary's examination in
Nazareth and were expecting her. After they had spoken of the journey
and of the approaching presentation ceremony, they summoned one of the
Temple women, an aged widow who was to have charge of the child. (She
lived near the Temple with other women who, like her, were occupied in
various feminine employments and in the training of young girls. Their
dwelling was farther away from the Temple than the rooms in which were
the oratories of the women and of the maidens dedicated to the Temple.
These rooms were built directly onto it, and from them one could look
down unseen into the holy place below.) The woman who now came in was
so muffled up that only a little of her face could be seen. The child
Mary was introduced to her as her future foster-child by the priests
and by her parents. She was grave but friendly, and the child was
serious, humble, and respectful. They told her of Mary's disposition
and character, and discussed various matters connected with the
ceremony of her presentation. This elderly woman accompanied them to
the inn and was given a package of the child's belongings, which she
took back with her to arrange in Mary's new home. Those who had
accompanied the party from Zechariah's house returned there, and only
the relations who had come with the Holy Family remained in the inn
hired by Zechariah. The women of the party settled themselves there and
made preparations for a banquet on the following day.
[On November 7 ^th Catherine Emmerich said:] I spent the whole of today
watching the preparations for Joachim's sacrifice and for Mary's
reception in the Temple. Early in the morning Joachim and some other
men drove the sacrificial animals to the Temple, where they underwent
another inspection by the priests; some of them were rejected, and
these were at once driven to the cattle market in the city. Those which
were accepted were driven into the slaughtering-place, where I saw many
things happening, but can no longer say in what order. I remember that
Joachim laid his hand on the head of each animal before it was
sacrificed. He had to catch the blood in a vessel, and had also to
receive certain portions of the animal. There were all kinds of
pillars, tables, and vessels there, where everything was cut up,
distributed, and arranged in order. The bloody froth was taken away,
while the fat, spleen, and liver were set apart. Everything was
sprinkled with salt. The intestines of the lambs were cleansed and,
after being filled with something, were put back into the body to make
it seem whole again. The legs of all the animals were tied together
crosswise. Some of the meat was taken into another court and given to
the Temple virgins, who had to do something with it--perhaps to prepare
it for their own or for the priests' food. All was done with incredible
orderliness. The priests and Levites moved about always two by two, and
the most difficult and complicated tasks were accomplished as if by
clockwork. The pieces of meat were not actually offered up till the
following day; in the meantime they lay in salt.
There were great rejoicings in the inn today, and a banquet; there must
have been a hundred people there, counting the children. There were
present at least twenty-four girls of varying ages; among them I saw
Seraphia, who after Jesus' death was known as Veronica. She was tall,
and might have been ten or twelve years old. They were making wreaths
and garlands for Mary and her companions, and decorating seven candles
or torches. The candlesticks, which were without pedestals, were shaped
like scepters; I cannot remember what fed the flame at the top, whether
it was oil or wax or something else. During the festivities there were
several priests and Levites going in and out of the inn, and these also
took part in the banquet. When they expressed astonishment at the
greatness of Joachim's sacrifice, he explained that he wished to show
his gratitude to the best of his power; he could not forget how, by
God's mercy, his shame in the Temple at the rejection of his sacrifice
had been followed by the granting of his petitions. Today, too, I saw
the child Mary going for a walk near the inn with the other little
girls. Much else I have forgotten.
5. MARY'S ENTRY INTO THE TEMPLE AND PRESENTATION.
[On November 8 ^th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich related:] Today Joachim
went first to the Temple with Zechariah and the other men. Afterwards
Mary was taken there by her mother Anna in a festal procession. First
came Anna and her elder daughter Mary Heli, with the latter's little
daughter Mary Cleophas; then the holy child Mary followed in her
sky-blue dress and robe, with wreaths round her arms and neck; in her
hand she held a candle or torch entwined with flowers. Decorated
candles like this were also carried by three maidens who walked on each
side of her, wearing white dresses embroidered with gold. They, too,
wore pale-blue robes; they were wreathed round with garlands of
flowers, and wore little wreaths round their necks and arms as well.
Next came the other maidens and little girls, all in festal dress but
each different. They all wore little robes. The other women came at the
end of the procession. They could not go direct from the inn to the
Temple, but had to make a detour through several streets. The beautiful
procession gave pleasure to all who saw it, and at several houses honor
was paid to it as it passed. There was something indescribably moving
in the holiness apparent in the child. As the procession approached the
Temple, I saw many of the Temple servants struggling with great efforts
to open an immensely large and heavy door, shining like gold and
ornamented with a multitude of sculptured heads, bunches of grapes, and
sheaves of corn. This was the Golden Gate. The procession passed under
this gate, to which fifteen steps led up, but whether in a single
flight I cannot remember. Mary would not take the hands held out to
her; to the admiration of all she ran eagerly and joyfully up the steps
without stumbling. She was received in the gateway by Zechariah,
Joachim, and several priests, and led under the gate (which was a long
archway) to the right into some large halls or high rooms, in one of
which a meal was being prepared. Here the procession dispersed. Several
of the women and children went to the women's praying-place in the
Temple, while Joachim and Zechariah proceeded to the sacrifice. In one
of the halls the priest again examined the child Mary by putting
questions to her. They were astonished at the wisdom of her answers,
and left her to be dressed by Anna in the third and most magnificent
violet-blue ceremonial garment, with the robe, veil, and crown which I
have already described at the ceremony in Anna's house.
In the meantime Joachim had gone with the priests to the sacrifice. He
was given fire from the appointed place, and then stood between two
priests at the altar. I am at present too ill and upset to describe all
the circumstances of the sacrifice, but will tell what is still present
to my mind.
The altar could be approached from three sides only. The meat prepared
for the sacrifice was not put all together, but was divided into
separate portions placed round the altar. Flat shelves could be drawn
out of the three sides of the altar, and on these the offerings were
laid to be pushed to the center of it; for the altar was too large for
the officiating priest to be able to reach the center with his arm. At
the four corners of the altar there stood little hollow columns of
metal, crowned with chimneys or something similar--wide funnels made of
thin copper, ending in pipes curving outwards like horns, which carried
away the smoke above the heads of the officiating priests. When
Joachim's sacrifice started to burn, Anna went, with the child Mary in
her ceremonial dress and with her companions, into the outer court of
the women, which is the place in the Temple set apart for women. This
court was separated from the court of the altar of sacrifice by a wall
surmounted by a grille; there was, however, a door in the center of
this dividing wall. The women's court slants upwards from the wall, so
that a view of the altar of sacrifice cannot be had by all, but only by
those standing at the back. When, however, the door in the dividing
wall was opened, a number of the women were able to see the altar
through it. Mary and the other little girls stood in front of Anna, and
the other women of the family remained near the door. In a separate
place there were a number of Temple boys dressed in white and playing
flutes and harps. After the sacrifice, there was set up in the doorway
leading from the court of sacrifice to the women's court a portable
decorated altar [68] or sacrificial table, with several steps leading
up to it.
Zechariah and Joachim came out of the court of sacrifice and went up to
this altar with a priest, in front of whom stood another priest and two
Levites with scrolls and writing materials. Anna led the child Mary up
to them; the maidens who had accompanied Mary stood a little behind.
Mary knelt on the steps, and Joachim and Anna laid their hands on her
head. The priest cut off a few of her hairs and burnt them in a
brazier. Her parents also said a few words, offering up their child;
these were written down by two Levites. Meanwhile the maidens sang the
44 ^th Psalm (Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum) and the priests the 49
^th Psalm ( Deus, deorum Dominus, locutus est ) accompanied by the boys
with their instruments.
I then saw Mary being led by the hand by two priests up many steps to a
raised place in the wall dividing the outer court of the Holy Place
from the other court. They placed the child in a sort of niche in the
middle of this wall, so that she could see into the Temple, where there
were many men standing in ranks; they seemed to me to be also dedicated
to the Temple. Two priests stood beside her, and still others on the
steps below, singing and reading aloud from their scrolls. On the other
side of the dividing wall there was an old high priest standing at an
altar of incense, so high up that one could see half of his figure. I
saw him offering incense and the smoke from it enveloping the child
Mary.
During these ceremonies I saw a symbolic vision round the Blessed
Virgin which eventually filled and dimmed the whole Temple. I saw a
glory of light under Mary's heart, and understood that this glory
encompassed the Promise, the most holy blessing of God. I saw this
glory appear as if surrounded by the Ark of Noah, so that the Blessed
Virgin's head projected above it. Then I saw the shape of the Ark about
the glory change into the shape of the Ark of the Covenant, which in
its turn changed into the shape of the Temple. Then I saw these shapes
disappear, and out of the glory there rose before the Blessed Virgin's
breast a shape like the Chalice of the Last Supper, and above this,
before her mouth, a bread marked with a cross. On each side of her
there streamed out manifold rays of light at the ends of which appeared
in pictures many mysteries and symbols of the Blessed Virgin, as for
example all the titles in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. Behind her
shoulders two branches of olive and cypress or cedar and cypress
stretched crosswise above a slender palm tree, which I saw appear just
behind her with a little leafy shrub. In the spaces between this
arrangement of green branches I saw all the instruments of Jesus'
Passion. The Holy Ghost hovered over the picture in human rather than
dove-like form, winged with rays of light: and above I saw the heavens
open and disclose, floating in the air above the Blessed Virgin, the
heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God, with all its palaces and gardens
and the mansions of future saints. All were filled with angels, and the
whole glory, which now surrounded the Blessed Virgin, was filled with
angels' faces.
How can this be expressed? Its variations, its unfoldings, and its
transformations were so innumerable that I have forgotten a very great
deal. The whole significance of the Blessed Virgin in the Covenant of
the Old and New Testaments and to all eternity was set forth therein. I
can compare this vision with the smaller one which I had a short time
ago of the holy Rosary in all its glory. (Seemingly clever people who
speak slightingly of the Rosary are much less sensible than poor
unimportant folk who pray with it in all simplicity, for these adorn it
with the beauty of obedience and humble devotion, trusting in the
Church's recommendation of it to the faithful.)
With this vision before me, all the splendor and magnificence of the
Temple and the beautifully decorated wall behind the Blessed Virgin
seemed quite dim and dingy, even the Temple itself seemed to be no
longer there, so full was everything of Mary and her glory. As the
whole significance of the Blessed Virgin unfolded itself before my eyes
in these visions I saw her no longer as the child Mary, but as the
Blessed Virgin, hovering tall above me. I saw the priests and the smoke
of the offering and everything through the picture; it was as if the
priests behind her were uttering prophecies and admonishing the people
to thank God and to pray that this child should be magnified. All those
who were present in the Temple were hushed and filled with solemn awe,
though they did not see the picture that I saw. It disappeared again
little by little just as I had seen it come. At last I saw nothing but
the glory under Mary's heart, with the Blessing of the Promise shining
within it. Then this disappeared, too, and I saw the holy dedicated
child in her ceremonial dress standing alone once more between the
priests. The priests took the wreaths from off the child's arms and the
torch from her hand and gave them to her companions. They placed a
brown veil or hood on her head, and led her down the steps through a
door into another hall, where she was met by six other (but older)
Temple virgins who strewed flowers before her. Behind her stood her
teachers: Noemi, the sister of Lazarus' mother, the Prophetess Anna,
and still a third woman; the priests gave the child Mary over to them
and withdrew. Her parents and near relations now approached; the
singing was over, and Mary said farewell. Joachim's emotion was
particularly deep; he lifted Mary up, pressed her to his heart, and
said to her with tears, Remember my soul before God!' Thereupon Mary
with her teachers and several maidens went into the women's dwelling on
the north side of the Temple itself. They lived in rooms built in the
thickness of the Temple walls. Passages and winding stairs led up to
little praying cells near the Holy Place and Holy of Holies.
Mary's parents and relations went back to the hall by the Golden Gate
where they had first waited, and partook of a meal there with the
priests. The women ate in a separate hall. I have forgotten much of
what I saw and heard, amongst other things the exact reason why the
ceremony was so rich and solemn; but I do recollect that it was so as a
result of a revelation of the Divine Will.
(Mary's parents were really well off; it was only as mortification and
for almsgiving that they lived so poorly. I forget for how long Anna
ate nothing but cold food; but their servants were well fed and
provided for.) I saw many people praying in the Temple, and many had
followed the procession to its gates. Some of those present must have
had some idea of the destiny of the Blessed Virgin, for I remember Anna
speaking with enthusiastic joy to various women and saying to them, Now
the Ark of the Covenant, the Vessel of the Promise, is entering the
Temple'. Mary's parents and other relations reached Bethoron the same
day on their journey home.
I now saw a festival among the Temple virgins. Mary had to ask the
teachers and each of the young girls whether they would suffer her to
be among them. This was the custom. Then they had a meal, and
afterwards they danced amongst themselves. They stood opposite each
other in pairs, and danced in various figures and crossings. There was
no hopping. It was like a minuet. Sometimes there was a swaying,
circular motion of the body, like the movements of the Jews when they
pray. Some of the young girls accompanied the dancing with flutes,
triangles, and bells. There was another instrument which sounded
particularly strange and delightful. It was played by plucking the
strings stretched on the steeply sloping sides of a sort of little box.
In the middle of the box were bellows which when pressed up and down
sent the air through several pipes, some straight and some crooked, and
so made an accompaniment to the strings. The instrument was held on the
player's knees.
In the evening I saw the teacher Noemi lead the Blessed Virgin to her
little room, which looked into the Temple. It was not quite square, and
the walls were inlaid with triangular shapes in different colors. There
was a stool in it and a little table, and in the corners were stands
with shelves for putting things on. Before this room was a sleeping
place and a room for dresses, as well as Noemi's room. Mary spoke to
her again about rising often to pray in the night, but Noemi did not
yet allow this.
The Temple women wore long, full, white robes with girdles and very
wide sleeves, which they rolled up when working. They were veiled.
I never remember seeing that Herod entirely rebuilt the Temple: I only
saw various alterations being made in it during his reign. Now, when
Mary came to the Temple, eleven years before Christ's birth, nothing
was being built in the Temple itself, but (as always) in the outer
portions of it: here the work never stopped.
[On November 21 ^st Catherine Emmerich said:] Today I had a view of
Mary's dwelling in the Temple. On the northern side of the Temple hall,
towards the Holy Place, there were several rooms high up which were
connected with the women's dwellings. Mary's room was one of the
outermost of these towards the Holy of Holies. From the passage one
passed through a curtain into a sort of antechamber, which was divided
off from the room itself by a partition, semicircular or forming an
angle. In the corners to the right and left were shelves for keeping
clothes and other things. Opposite the door in this partition steps led
to an opening high up in the wall which looked down into the Temple.
This opening had a carpet hanging before it and was curtained with
gauze. Against the wall in the left-hand side of the room there was a
rolled-up carpet, which, when spread out, made the bed on which Mary
slept. A bracket-lamp was fixed in a niche in the wall, and today I saw
the child standing on a stool and praying by its light from a parchment
roll with red knobs. It was a very touching sight. The child was
wearing a little blue-and-white striped dress woven with yellow
flowers. There was a low round table in the room. I saw Anna come in
and place on the table a dish with fruits of the size of beans and a
little jug. Mary was skilful beyond her years: I saw her already
working at little white cloths for the service of the Temple.
[Catherine Emmerich generally communicated the above visions about the
time of the feast of the Presentation of Mary. Besides these, however,
she related at different times the following accounts of Mary's
eleven-year sojourn in the Temple:]
__________________________________________________________________
[58] The story of the Presentation of Our Lady in the Temple at the age
of three years appears in the Apocryphal Gospels: Protev. 7, Ps-Matt.
6, Nat. Mar. 6, Hist. Jos. 3; and is attested by the liturgical feast
on Nov. 21st. (SB)
[59] There is a place called Madin about twelve miles north-east of
Nazareth on the high ground above the Lake of Galilee. Cf. Jos. 11.1.
(SB)
[60] Pilate, not Herod, proposed to make an aqueduct with Temple funds,
and thereby caused a riot of 10,000 Jews, according to Josephus (Ant.,
XVIII, iii. 2). (SB)
[61] For the burning bush ( Ex. 3.2) as a type of Our Lady, cf. the
second antiphon at Lauds on Jan. 1st. (SB)
[62] One may well be alarmed by the power of the world over fallen
mankind when one considers how earthly things brought forgetfulness
upon this favored soul who was not at all attached to them. Every year
about this time she saw this picture of Mary's departure for the
Temple, and each time the appearance of the two prophets as boys was in
some way interwoven with it. She sees them appear as boys and not at
their real age, because they were not personally present at the
proceeding but accompany her only as emblems. Painters, when making
historical pictures, are in the habit of representing not in their real
form, but as youths, genii, or angels, those persons who are intended
to illustrate some truth or other. Thus we may see that this manner of
representation is not a result of their poetical imagination, but lies
in the nature of all visionary appearances. (CB)
[63] From the situation of this town and from the mention of its having
some heathen inhabitants, and of Jesus having traveled in this
direction in His thirtieth year on His way to His Baptism, we may
conclude that it was Endor. For in her daily visions of the ministry of
Our Lord, Catherine Emmerich saw Him celebrating the Sabbath in a small
place near Endor in the middle of September of the first year of His
ministry on His way to His Baptism. Also in this rather deserted
hill-town she saw Him teaching the Canaanites settled here since the
defeat of Sisera, in whose army their ancestors had served. (CB) Endor
lies north-cast of the Plain of Esdrelon, where the battle was fought
in which Sisera was defeated ( Judges 4). (SB)
[64] Upper Bethoron is on the hill and Lower Bethoron at the foot of
the hill. Jos. 10.11 mentions the battle in the descent of Beth-Horon';
and a big battle took place here as recorded in I Macc. 3.16-24. (SB)
[65] She remembered that the name sounded like Marion (possibly Marom',
i.e. the height'). It is known that a road ran from Jerusalem past
Bethoron to Nicopolis and Lydda. Catherine Emmerich gave all kinds of
other details about the hills and valleys on the journey up to this
point, but as she sees more distinctly than she can describe, it is
impossible to reproduce these details, particularly as the
topographical position from which she sees them cannot be determined.
(CB)
[66] It is the eastern side of the Temple hill that falls steeply into
the Valley of Kedron. (SB)
[67] John 5.2, usually rendered, There is at Jerusalem a pond Probatica
(=sheep), which in Hebrew is named Bethsaida (or Bethesda or Bezatha)',
seems to identify the sheep-pool and Bethsaida, which AC states are
distinct. But the most probable rendering of the Greek is There is at
Jerusalem by the Probatica (i.e. sheep gate) a swimming pool called in
Hebrew Bezatha', and excavations have revealed traces of a
swimming-pool with five porches' (John, ib.) (cf. Cath. Comm., 791c).
This is evidently not the same as the sheep-dipping poo1 mentioned by
AC. (SB)
[68] This altar-table was set up in this doorway because women were not
permitted to go farther. When the meeting of Joachim and Anna took
place, Joachim had gone through this door into the subterranean
passage, while Anna had come from the opposite direction. (CB)
__________________________________________________________________
IV. THE EARLY LIFE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN AT THE TEMPLE.
I saw the Blessed Virgin in the Temple, ever progressing in learning,
prayer, and work. Sometimes I saw her in the women's dwelling with the
other young girls, sometimes alone in her little room. She worked,
wove, and knitted narrow strips of stuff on long rods for the service
of the Temple. She washed the cloths and cleansed the pots and pans. I
often saw her in prayer and meditation. I never saw her chastising or
mortifying her body--she did not need it. Like all very holy people she
ate only to live, and took no other food except that which she had
vowed to eat. Besides the prescribed Temple prayers, Mary's devotions
consisted of an unceasing longing for redemption, a perpetual state of
inner prayer, quietly and secretly performed. In the stillness of the
night she rose from her bed and prayed to God. I often saw her weeping
at her prayers and surrounded by radiance. As she grew up, I always saw
that she wore a dress of a glistening blue color. She was veiled while
at prayer, and also wore a veil when she spoke with priests or went
down to a room by the Temple to be given work or to hand over what she
had done. There were rooms like this on three sides of the Temple; they
always looked to me like sacristies. All sorts of things were kept
there which it was the duty of the Temple maidens to look after,
repair, and replace.
I saw the Blessed Virgin living in the Temple in a perpetual ecstasy of
prayer. Her soul did not seem to be on the earth, and she often
received consolation and comfort from heaven. She had an endless
longing for the fulfillment of the Promise, and in her humility hardly
ventured on the wish to be the lowliest maidservant of the Mother of
the Redeemer. Mary's teacher and nurse in the Temple was called Noemi,
she was a sister of Lazarus' mother and was fifty years old. She and
the other Temple women belonged to the Essenes. Mary learnt from her
how to knit and helped her when she washed the blood of the sacrifices
from the vessels and instruments, or when she cut up and prepared
certain parts of the flesh for the Temple women and priests; for this
formed part of their food. Later on Mary took a still more active part
in these duties. When Zechariah did his service in the Temple he used
to visit her, and Simeon was also acquainted with her.
The Blessed Virgin's significance cannot have been quite unknown to the
priests. Her whole being, the abundance of grace in her, and her wisdom
were so remarkable from her childhood in the Temple onwards that they
could not be entirely concealed in spite of her great humility. I saw
aged holy priests filling great scrolls with writing about her, and I
have been shown these scrolls, lying with other writings, though I
cannot remember at what period.
__________________________________________________________________
V. THE EARLY LIFE OF ST. JOSEPH
[We here break off Catherine Emmerich's somewhat disconnected
description of the Blessed Virgin's sojourn in the Temple to give the
following accounts of St. Joseph's youth.]
Among many things which I saw today of the youth of St. Joseph, I
remember what follows.
Joseph, whose father was called Jacob, was the third of six brothers.
His parents lived in a large house outside Bethlehem, once the
ancestral home of David, whose father Isai or Jesse had owned it. By
Joseph's time there was, however, little remaining of the old building
except the main walls. The situation was very airy, and water was
abundant there. I know my way about there better than in our own little
village of Flamske.
In front of the house was an outer court (as in the houses of ancient
Rome), surrounded by a covered colonnade like a cloister. [Please refer
to Figure 6.] I saw sculptures in this colonnade like the heads of old
men. On one side of the court was a fountain under a stone canopy. The
water issued from animals' heads in stone. There were no windows to be
seen in the lower story of the dwelling house itself, but high up there
were circular openings. I saw one door. A broad gallery ran round the
upper part of the house, with little towers at each of its four
corners, like short, thick pillars, ending in big balls or domes on
which little flags were fastened. Stairs led up through these little
towers from below, and from openings in the domes one had a view all
round without being seen oneself. There were little towers like this on
David's palace in Jerusalem, and it was from the dome of one of these
that he saw Bathsheba at her bath. This gallery ran round a low upper
story with a flat roof on which was another building with another
little tower. Joseph and his brothers lived in the upper story, and
their teacher, an aged Jew, lived in the topmost building. They all
slept in a circle in one room, in the middle of the story which was
surrounded by the gallery. Their sleeping places were carpets, rolled
up against the wall in the daytime and separated by removable screens.
I have often seen them playing up there in their rooms. They had toys
in the shape of animals, like little pugs. [Catherine Emmerich uses
this word indiscriminately for any creatures she does not know.] I also
saw how their teacher gave them all kinds of strange lessons which I
did not rightly understand. I saw him making all kinds of figures on
the ground with sticks, and the boys had to walk on these figures; then
I saw the boys walking on other figures and pushing the sticks apart,
placing them differently and rearranging them and making various
measurements at the same time. I saw their parents, too; they did not
trouble much about their children and had little to do with them. They
seemed to me to be neither good nor bad.
Figure 6. Saint Joseph's ancestral home.
Joseph, whom I saw in this vision at about the age of eight, was very
different in character from his brothers. He was very gifted and was a
very good scholar, but he was simple, quiet, devout, and not at all
ambitious. His brothers knocked him about and played all kinds of
tricks on him. The boys had separate little gardens, at the entrance of
which stood figures like babies in swaddling clothes on pillars, but
sheltered a little (in niches perhaps?). I have often seen figures like
these, and there were some on the curtain which hung by the
praying-place of St. Anne and also of the Blessed Virgin, but on Mary's
curtain this figure held something in its arms that reminded me of a
chalice with something wriggling out of it. Here in St. Joseph's house
the figures were like babies in swaddling clothes with round faces
surrounded by rays. In still earlier times I noticed many figures of
this kind, particularly in Jerusalem. They appeared, too, in the Temple
decorations. I saw them in Egypt as well, where they sometimes had
little caps on their heads. Amongst the figures which Rachel carried
off from her father Laban there were some like these, but smaller, as
well as other different ones. I have also seen these figures lying in
little boxes or baskets in Jewish houses. I think perhaps that they
represented the child Moses floating on the Nile, and that the
swaddling-bands perhaps symbolized the tightly binding character of the
Law. I often used to think that this little figure was for them what
the Christ Child is for us.
I saw herbs, bushes, and little trees in the boys' gardens, and I saw
how Joseph's brothers often went in secret to his garden and trampled
or uprooted something in it. They made him very unhappy. I often saw
him under the colonnade in the outer court kneeling down with his face
to the wall, praying with outstretched arms, and I saw his brothers
creep up and kick him. I once saw him kneeling like this, when one of
them hit him on the back, and as he did not seem to notice it, he
repeated his attack with such violence that poor Joseph fell forward
onto the hard stone floor. From this I realized that he was not in a
waking condition, but had been in an ecstasy of prayer. When he came to
himself, he did not lose his temper or take revenge, but found a hidden
corner where he continued his prayer.
I saw some small dwellings built against the outer walls of the house,
inhabited by a few middle-aged women. They went about veiled, as I
often saw women doing who lived near schools in the country. They
seemed to form part of the household, for I often saw them going in and
out of the house on various errands. They carried water in, washed and
swept, closed the gratings in front of the windows, rolled up the beds
against the walls and placed wickerwork screens in front of them. I saw
Joseph's brothers sometimes talking to these maid-servants or helping
them with their work and joking with them, too. Joseph did not do this;
he was serious and solitary. It seemed to me that there were also
daughters in the house. The lower living-rooms were arranged rather
like those in Anna's house, but everything was more spacious. Joseph's
parents were not very well satisfied with him; they wanted him to use
his talents in some worldly profession, but he had no inclination for
that. He was too simple and unpretentious for them; his only
inclination was towards prayer and quiet work at some handicraft. When
he was about twelve years old, I often saw him go to the other side of
Bethlehem to escape from his brothers' perpetual teasing. Not far from
the future cave of the Nativity there was a little community of pious
women belonging to the Essenes, who dwelt in a series of rock-chambers
in a hollowed-out part of the hill on which Bethlehem stood. They
tended little gardens near their dwellings and taught the children of
other Essenes. Little Joseph went to visit these women, and I often
used to see him escaping from his brothers' teasing to go to them and
join in their prayers, which they read by the light of a lamp in their
cave from a scroll hanging on the wall. I also saw him visiting the
caves of which one was afterwards the birthplace of Our Lord. He prayed
there quite alone, or made all kinds of little things out of wood; for
there was an old carpenter who had his workshop near these Essenes with
whom Joseph spent much of his time. He helped him with his work and so
little by little learnt his craft. The art of measuring which he had
practiced at home under his master's tuition was here of great use to
him.
His brothers' hostility at last made it impossible for him to remain
any longer in his parents' house; I saw that a friend from Bethlehem
(which was separated from his home by a little stream) gave him clothes
in which to disguise himself. In these he left the house at night in
order to earn his living in another place by his carpentry. He might
have been eighteen to twenty years old at that time.
To begin with, I saw him working with a carpenter at Lebona. [69] This
was the place where he first really learnt his craft. His master had
his dwelling against some ancient walls which ran from the town along a
narrow ledge of hill, like a road leading up to some ruined castle.
Several poor people lived in the walls. I saw Joseph making long stakes
in a place between high walls with openings above to let in light.
These stakes were frames for wicker-screens. His master was a poor man,
and made mostly only such common things as these rough wicker-screens.
Joseph was very devout, good, and simple-minded, everybody loved him. I
saw him helping his master very humbly in all sorts of ways--picking up
shavings, collecting wood, and carrying it back on his shoulders. In
later days he passed by here with the Blessed Virgin on one of their
journeys, and I think he visited his former workshop with her.
His parents thought at first that he had been carried off by robbers;
but I saw that he was discovered at last by his brothers and severely
taken to task, for they were ashamed of his low way of life. He was,
however, too humble to give it up; though he left that place and worked
afterwards at Thanath, [70] near Megiddo, by a small river called
Kishon which runs into the sea. (This place is not far from Apheca,
[71] the home of the Apostle Thomas.) Joseph lived here with a
well-to-do master, and the carpenter's work which they did was of a
higher quality. Later still I saw him working in Tiberias for a
master-carpenter. He might have been as much as thirty-three years old
at that time. His parents in Bethlehem had been dead for some time. Two
of his brothers still lived in Bethlehem; the others were dispersed.
The parental home had passed into other hands, and the whole family had
come down in the world very rapidly. Joseph was very devout and prayed
fervently for the coming of the Messiah. He was just engaged in
building beside his dwelling a more retired room for prayer, when an
angel appeared to him and told him not to do this, for, as once the
patriarch Joseph at about this time had, by God's will, been made
overseer of all the corn of Egypt, so he, the second Joseph, should now
be entrusted with the care of the granary of salvation. [72] Joseph in
his humility did not understand this, and gave himself up to continual
prayer, till he received the call to betake himself to Jerusalem to
become by divine decree the spouse of the Blessed Virgin. I never saw
that he was married before; he was very retiring and avoided women.
1. AN ELDER BROTHER OF ST. JOSEPH
[Later in Catherine Emmerich's visions we shall come across various
other allusions to the family history of Joseph and in particular of
his brothers. These allusions are, however, too scattered and
interwoven in the great mass of her communications for the writer to
collect them all together in this place with certainty and clarity.
Since, however, an opportunity occurs here unsought, we will mention an
elder brother of Joseph's who lived in Galilee.
[When we were looking up in our diaries the passage where Catherine
Emmerich explained on August 24 ^th, 1821, the relationship between
Joseph and Joachim (see p. 18 ), we found a detailed account given by
her on the same day (being the feast of St. Bartholomew) of a story
from the life of that apostle. This vision had presented itself very
vividly to her in connection with a relic of the saint. In the course
of it she stated that the father of Bartholomew of Geshur had for some
long time frequented the healing waters near Bethulia and had
afterwards settled permanently in the region, chiefly on account of his
friendship with an elder brother of Joseph. She added:]
He went to a valley near Dabbesheth which was the home of Zadoch, a
devout man and an elder brother of Joseph. The devout father of
Bartholomew had become much attached to him during his sojourn at
Bethulia. Zadoch had two sons and two daughters, and these children
were on friendly terms with the Holy Family. When the twelve-year-old
Jesus remained behind in the Temple and his parents missed him, this
was one of the families in which they sought for Him. I saw the sons
amongst Jesus' playmates when He was a boy.
__________________________________________________________________
[69] It appears from various communications of Catherine Emmerich's
about the ministry of Our Lord that the town in which St. Joseph first
worked was not the Libna which is in the tribe of Judah some hours to
the west of Bethlehem, but Lebona on the south side of Mount Garizim.
According to the Book of Judges 21.19, it is to be found north of
Shiloh. (CB)
[70] Thanath or Thaanath (see Joshua 16.6) lies, according to Eusebius,
ten miles to the east of Nablus in the direction of the Jordan, whereas
the place here mentioned by Catherine Emmerich must, by her account,
lie north-west of Nablus. She must therefore no doubt have meant
Thanach instead of Thanath, and have been misunderstood by the writer,
who at the time had no knowledge whatever of the geography of Palestine
and no means of supplying it. Such misunderstanding was all the more
likely to occur because Catherine Emmerich when ill or in a state of
ecstasy often pronounced the names somewhat unclearly in her low-German
Muenster dialect and sometimes mixed them up. A further convincing
proof that she here meant Thanach may be found in the daily account
which she gave in 1823 of the third year of Our Lord's ministry. She
saw in her visions that Jesus taught on the 25th and 26th of the month
Siva in Thanach, a town of the Levites near Megiddo, and that He
visited there the former carpenter's shop of his foster-father Joseph.
(CB)
[71] Apheca is about twenty-five miles north of Thanach. (SB)
[72] The same idea is found in St. Bernard's Homilia 2 super Missus
est, recited in the Breviary on St. Joseph's feast. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
VI. A SON IS PROMISED TO ZECHARIAH
I saw Zechariah talking with Elizabeth of his grief; it was near the
time for his turn of service in the Temple, and it was always with
sorrow that he went, for he was looked on with contempt there because
of his unfruitfulness. Zechariah had to perform his service in the
Temple twice a year.
They lived not in Hebron itself, but in Juttah, about an hour's
distance from it. There were many remains of walls between Juttah [73]
and Hebron, as if these two places had once been connected with each
other. On the other sides of Hebron were also many scattered buildings
and groups of houses, the remains, it seemed, of the former city of
Hebron, which must once have been as large as Jerusalem. Priests of
lower rank lived at Hebron, while those of higher rank lived at Juttah.
Zechariah was a kind of superior of the latter. He and Elizabeth were
held in great honor there for their virtue and their unbroken descent
from Aaron.
I then saw how Zechariah and several other priests of the neighborhood
met together on a small farm which he owned near Juttah. There was a
garden with various arbors and a little house. Zechariah prayed here
with his companions and taught them. It was a kind of preparation for
the forthcoming service at the Temple. I also heard him speak of his
heaviness of heart, and how he had a presentiment that something was
about to befall him.
I then saw him go with these people to Jerusalem; he had to wait four
days more before it was his turn to sacrifice. In the meantime he
prayed in the Temple. When it was his turn to kindle the
incense-offering, I saw him go into the Holy Place, where the golden
altar of incense stood in front of the entrance to the Holy of Holies.
The ceiling above it had been opened so that one could see the sky. One
could not see the sacrificing priest from outside, but one could see
the smoke rising up. When Zechariah had entered, another priest said
something to him and then went away. [74]
Now that Zechariah was alone, I saw him go through a curtain into a
place where it was dark. He brought something out from there which he
placed on the altar, and kindled fire to make smoke. Then I saw a
radiance descending upon him from the right side of the altar, and
within it a shining figure approaching him, and I saw how he sank down
towards the right-hand side of the altar in alarm and at the same time
rigid in ecstasy. The angel lifted him up and spoke with him for a long
time, and Joachim answered him. I saw the heavens opening above
Zechariah, and two angels descending and ascending as if on a ladder.
His girdle was loosened and his robe was open, and it appeared to me as
if one of the angels took something from him and as if the other put
into his side as it were a little shining substance. That was what
happened also when Joachim received the blessing of the angel for the
conception of the Blessed Virgin. It was usual for the priests to leave
the Holy Place as soon as they had kindled the incense-offering, so
when Zechariah was so long in coming out, those praying outside became
anxious. He had become dumb, and I saw him writing on a tablet before
coming out. When he emerged from the Temple and came into the outer
court, a crowd gathered round him and asked why he had stayed so long.
But he could not speak; he waved his hands and pointed to his mouth and
to the tablet, which he at once sent to Elizabeth at Juttah, to tell
her of the merciful promise of God and of his own dumbness. After a
short time he returned there himself; Elizabeth had also been given a
revelation, but I can no longer remember what it was.
[This rather incomplete account is all that Catherine Emmerich, who was
ill at the time, related on this subject; see St. Luke 1. 5-25.]
__________________________________________________________________
[73] Juttah, the modern Yattah, lies about five miles south of Hebron.
See also n. 82, p. 70 . (SB)
[74] Probably he had said to him, as was the custom, Kindle the
incense-offering'. See Mishnah, tract. Tamid, 6, S: 3, edit. Surenh, p.
305. (CB) The tractate Tamid, IV-VII, describes the whole course of the
daily sacrifice. This passage is in tome V, p. 305, in the edition of
Surenhusius. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
VII. MARRIAGE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO JOSEPH
The Blessed Virgin lived with other virgins in the Temple under the
care of pious matrons. The maidens employed themselves with embroidery
and other forms of decoration of carpets and vestments, and also with
the cleaning of these vestments and of the vessels used in the Temple.
They had little cells, from which they could see into the Temple, and
here they prayed and meditated. When these maidens were grown-up, they
were given in marriage. Their parents in dedicating them to the Temple
had offered them entirely to God, and the devout and more spiritual
Israelites had for a long time had a secret presentiment that the
marriage of one of these virgins would one day contribute to the coming
of the promised Messiah. [75]
When the Blessed Virgin had reached the age of fourteen and was to be
dismissed from the Temple with seven other maidens to be married, I saw
that her mother Anna had come to visit her there. Joachim was no longer
alive and Anna had by God's command married again. When the Blessed
Virgin was told that she must now leave the Temple and be married, I
saw her explaining to the priests in great distress of heart that it
was her desire never to leave the Temple, that she had betrothed
herself to God alone and did not wish to be married. She was, however,
told that it must be so.'
Hereupon I saw the Blessed Virgin supplicating God with great fervor in
her praying cell. I also remember that I saw Mary, who was parched with
thirst as she prayed, going down with a little jug to draw water from a
fountain or cistern, and that she there heard a voice (unaccompanied by
any visible appearance) and received a revelation which comforted her
and gave her strength to consent to her marriage. This was not the
Annunciation, for I saw that happen later in Nazareth. I must, however,
once have thought that I saw the appearance of an angel here too, for
in my youth I often confused this vision with the Annunciation and
thought that I saw the latter happening in the Temple. [76]
I saw, too, that a very aged priest, who could no longer walk (it was
doubtless the high priest), was carried on a chair by others before the
Holy of Holies, and that while the incense-offering was being kindled,
he read prayers from a parchment scroll lying on a stand in front of
him. I saw that he was in a spiritual ecstasy and saw a vision, and
that the forefinger of his hand was laid upon the passage of Isaiah in
the scroll: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse;
and a flower shall rise up out of his root." [ Is. 11.1.]
When the old priest came to himself again, he read this passage and
apprehended something from it.
Then I saw that messengers were sent throughout the land and all
unmarried men of the line of David summoned to the Temple. When these
were assembled in large numbers at the Temple in festal garments, the
Blessed Virgin was presented to them. Among them I saw a very devout
youth from the region of Bethlehem; he had always prayed with great
fervor for the fulfillment of the Promise, and I discerned in his heart
an ardent longing to become Mary's husband. She, however, withdrew
again into her cell in tears, unable to bear the thought that she
should not remain a virgin.
I now saw that the high priest, in accordance with the inner
instruction he had received, handed a branch to each of the men
present, and commanded each to inscribe his branch with his name and to
hold it in his hands during the prayer and sacrifice.
After they had done this, their branches were collected and laid upon
an altar before the Holy of Holies, and they were told that the one
among them whose branch blossomed was destined by the Lord to be
married to the maiden Mary of Nazareth. While the branches lay before
the Holy of Holies the sacrifice and prayer were continued, and
meanwhile I saw that youth, whose name will perhaps come back to me,
[77] in a hall of the Temple crying passionately to God with
outstretched arms. I saw him burst into tears when after the appointed
interval their branches were given back to them with the announcement
that none had blossomed, and therefore none of them was the bridegroom
destined by God for this maiden. The men were now sent home, but that
youth betook himself to Mount Carmel, to the sons of the prophets who
had lived there as hermits ever since the time of Elijah. From then on
he spent his time in continual prayer for the fulfillment of the
Promise.
I then saw the priests in the Temple making a fresh search in the
ancestral tables to see whether there was any descendant of David's who
had been overlooked. As they found that of six brothers registered at
Bethlehem one was missing and unknown, they made search for his
dwelling-place, and found Joseph not far from Samaria in a place beside
a little stream, where he lived alone by the water and worked for
another master. On the command of the high priest, Joseph now came,
dressed in his best, to the Temple at Jerusalem. He, too, had to hold a
branch in his hand during the prayer and sacrifice, and as he was about
to lay this on the altar before the Holy of Holies, a white flower like
a lily blossomed out of the top of it, and I saw over him an appearance
of light like the Holy Ghost. [78] Joseph was now recognized as
appointed by God to be the bridegroom of the Blessed Virgin, and was
presented to her by the priests in the presence of her mother. Mary,
submissive to the Will of God, accepted him meekly as her bridegroom,
for she knew that all things were possible with God, who had accepted
her vow to belong to Him alone, body and soul.
1. ABOUT MARY AND JOSEPHS WEDDING AND NUPTIAL CLOTHES.
[In the course of her continuous visions of Our Lord's daily ministry,
Catherine Emmerich (on September 24 ^th, 1821) saw Jesus teaching in
the synagogue at Gophna, four days before His baptism. He was dwelling
with the family of a head of the synagogue related to Joachim. On this
occasion she heard two widows, his daughters, exchanging remembrances
of the wedding of Jesus' parents, at which they had been present in
their youth with other relations. Of this she told what follows.]
While the two widows were recalling the wedding of Mary and Joseph as
they talked together, I saw a picture of this wedding and in particular
of the beautiful wedding garments of the Blessed Virgin, of which these
good women could not say enough. I will tell you what I can still
remember.
The wedding of Mary and Joseph, which lasted for seven or eight days,
was celebrated on Mount Sion in Jerusalem in a house which was often
hired out for festivities of this kind. Besides Mary's teachers and
schoolfellows from the Temple school many relations of Anna and Joachim
were present, amongst others a family from Gophna with two daughters.
The wedding was very ceremonious and elaborate. Many lambs were
slaughtered and sacrificed. The Blessed Virgin's wedding garments were
so remarkably beautiful and splendid that the women who were present
used to enjoy speaking about them even in their old age. In my vision I
heard their conversation and saw the following:
I saw Mary in her wedding-dress very distinctly. [Please refer to
Figure 7.] She wore a white woolen undergarment without sleeves: her
arms were wrapped round with strips of the same stuff, for at that time
these took the place of closed sleeves. Next she put on a collar
reaching from above the breast to her throat. It was encrusted with
pearls and white embroidery, and was shaped like the under-collar worn
by Archos the Essene, the pattern of which I cut out not long ago [see
pp. 12 - 13 ]. Over this she wore an ample robe, open in front. It fell
to her feet and was as full as a mantle and had wide sleeves. This robe
had a blue ground covered with an embroidered or woven pattern of red,
white, and yellow roses interspersed with green leaves, like rich and
ancient chasubles. The lower hem ended in fringes and tassels, while
the upper edge joined the white neck-covering. After this robe had been
arranged to fall in long straight folds, a kind of scapulary was put on
over it, such as some religious wear, for instance the Carmelites. This
was made of white silk with gold flowers: it was half a yard wide, and
was set with pearls and shining jewels at the breast. It hung in a
single width down to the edge of the dress, of which it covered the
opening in front. The lower edge was ornamented with fringes and beads.
A similar width hung down the back, while shorter and narrower strips
of the silk hung over the shoulders and arms; these four pieces, spread
out round the neck, made the shape of a cross. The front and back
pieces of this scapulary were held together under the arms by gold
laces or little chains; the fullness of the robe was thus gathered
together in front and the jeweled breast-piece pressed against it; the
flowered material of the robe was a little puffed out in the openings
between the laces. The full sleeves, over which the shoulder-pieces of
the scapulary projected, were lightly held together by bracelets above
and below the elbow. These bracelets, which were about two fingers in
breadth and engraved with letters, had twisted edges. They caused the
full sleeves to puff out at the shoulders, elbows, and wrists. The
sleeves ended in a white frill of silk or wool, I think. Over all this
she wore a sky-blue mantle, shaped like a big cloak, which in its turn
was covered by a sort of mourning cloak with sleeves made after a
traditional fashion. These cloaks were worn by Jewish women at certain
religious or domestic ceremonies. Mary's cloak was fastened at the
breast, under her neck, with a brooch, above which, round her neck, was
a white frill of what looked like feathers or floss silk. This cloak
fell back over the shoulders, came forward again at the sides, and
ended at the back in a pointed train. Its edge was embroidered with
gold flowers.
Figure 7. Mary in her wedding dress.
The adornment of her hair was indescribably beautiful. It was parted in
the middle of her head and divided into a number of little plaits.
[Please refer to Figure 8.] These, interwoven with white silk and
pearls, formed a great net falling over her shoulders and ending in a
point half-way down her back. The ends of the plaits were curled
inwards, and this whole net of hair was edged with a decorated border
of fringes and pearls, whose weight held it down and kept it in place.
Her hair was encircled by a wreath of white unspun silk or wool, three
strips of the same material meeting in a tuft on the top of her head
and holding it in place. On this wreath rested a crown of about a
hand's-breadth, decorated with jewels and surmounted by three bands of
metal crowned by a knob. This crown was ornamented in front with three
pearls, one above the other, and with one pearl on each side.
Figure 8. Mary's hair adorned for her wedding.
In her left hand she carried a little silken wreath of red and white
roses, and in her right hand, like a scepter, a beautiful gilded torch
in the shape of a candlestick without a foot. Its stem (thicker in the
middle than at the ends) was decorated with knobs above and below where
it was held. It was surmounted by a flat cup in which a white flame was
burning.
The shoes had soles two fingers thick heightened at toe and heel. These
soles were made entirely of green material, so that the foot seemed to
rest on grass. Two white-and-gold straps held them fast over the instep
of the bare foot, and the toes were covered by a little flap which was
attached to the sole and was always worn by well-dressed women.
It was the Temple maidens who plaited Mary's beautiful hair
arrangement; I saw it being done, several of them were busy with it and
it went quicker than one would think. Anna had brought the beautiful
clothes which Mary in her humility was unwilling to wear. After the
wedding the network of hair was thrown up over her head, the crown was
removed, and a milk-white veil put on her which hung down to her
elbows. The crown was then put on again over this veil.
The Blessed Virgin had very abundant hair, reddish-gold in color. Her
high, delicately traced eyebrows were black; she had a very high
forehead, large downcast eyes with long black lashes, a rather long
straight nose, delicately shaped, a noble and lovely mouth, and a
pointed chin. She was of middle height, and moved about in her rich
dress very gently and with great modesty and seriousness. At her
wedding she afterwards put on another dress of striped stuff, less
grand, a piece of which I possess among my relics. She wore this
striped dress also at Cana and on other holy occasions. She wore her
wedding-dress again in the Temple several times.
Very rich people used to change their dresses three or four times at
weddings. Mary in her grand garments looked like the great ladies of
much later times; for instance, the Empress Helena, or even Cunegundis,
although the manner in which Jewish women muffled themselves up on
ordinary occasions was very different and was more after the fashion of
Roman women. (In connection with these clothes I observed that very
many weavers lived near the Cenacle on Mount Sion, who made many kinds
of beautiful materials.)
Joseph wore a long full coat of pale blue, fastened down the front from
breast to hem with laces and bosses or buttons. His wide sleeves were
also fastened at the sides with laces; they were much turned up and
seemed to have pockets inside. Round his neck he wore a kind of brown
collar or rather a broad stole, and two white strips hung over his
breast, like the bands worn by our priests, only much longer. [See
Figure 9.]
I saw the whole course of the marriage of Joseph and Mary and the
wedding banquet and all the festivities, but I saw so many other things
at the same time, and am so ill and so disturbed in many ways, that I
do not venture to say more about it for fear of confusing my account.
2. MARY'S WEDDING-RING.
[On July 29 ^th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich had a vision of the separate
grave-clothes of Our Lord Jesus and of images of Our Lord which had
been miraculously imprinted on cloths. Her visions led her through
various places in which these holy relics were sometimes preserved with
great honor and sometimes forgotten by men and venerated only by the
angels and by devout souls. In the course of these visions she thought
that she saw the Blessed Virgin's wedding-ring preserved in one of
these places, and spoke of it as follows:]
I saw the Blessed Virgin's wedding-ring; it is neither of silver nor of
gold, nor of any other metal; it is dark in color and iridescent; it is
not a thin narrow ring, but rather thick and at least a finger broad. I
saw it smooth and yet as if covered with little regular triangles in
which were letters. On the inside was a flat surface. The ring is
engraved with something. I saw it kept behind many locks in a beautiful
church. Devout people about to be married take their wedding-rings to
touch it.
Figure 9. Saint Joseph in his wedding garments.
[On August 3 ^rd, 1821, she said:] In the last few days I have seen
much of the story of Mary's wedding-ring, but as the result of
disturbances and pain I can no longer give a connected account of it.
Today I saw a festival in a church in Italy where the wedding-ring is
to be found. It seemed to me to be hung up in a kind of monstrance
which stood above the Tabernacle. There was a large altar there,
magnificently decorated, one saw deep into it through much silverwork.
I saw many rings being held against the monstrance. During the festival
I saw Mary and Joseph appearing in their wedding garments on each side
of the ring, as if Joseph were placing the ring on the Blessed Virgin's
finger. At the same time I saw the ring shining and as if in movement.
[79]
To the right and left of this altar I saw two other altars, which were
probably not in the same church, but were only shown to me in my vision
as being together. In the altar to the right was an Ecce Homo picture
of Our Lord, which a devout Roman senator, a friend of St. Peter's, had
received in a miraculous manner. In the altar to the left was one of
the grave-clothes of Our Lord.
When the wedding festivities were over, Anna went back to Nazareth with
her relations, and Mary also went there, accompanied by several of her
playmates who had been discharged from the Temple at the same time as
her. They left the city in a festal procession. I do not know how far
the maidens accompanied her. They once more spent the first night in
the Levites' school at Bethoron. Mary made the return journey on foot.
Joseph went to Bethlehem after the wedding in order to settle some
family affairs there. He did not come to Nazareth until later.
3. FROM MARY'S RETURN HOME TO THE ANNUNCIATION.
[Catherine Emmerich always had these visions of the story of the Holy
Family on the days appointed by the Church for their celebration;
nevertheless, the date on which she saw some of these events sometimes
differed from the ecclesiastical feast days. For instance, she saw the
real historical date of the birth of Christ a whole month earlier, on
November 25 ^th, which according to her visions coincided with the
tenth day of the month Kislev in that year. Fifteen days later she saw
Joseph keeping for several days the Feast of the Dedication of the
Temple, or the Feast of Lights (which began on the 25 ^th day of the
month Kislev) by burning lights in the cave of the Crib. From this it
follows that she saw the Feast of the Annunciation also a month
earlier, i.e. on February 25 ^th. It was in the year 1821 that
Catherine Emmerich first gave an account of this event. She was
seriously ill at that time, and her statement was therefore somewhat
fragmentary to begin with.
[She had stated earlier that Joseph did not go to Nazareth immediately
after the wedding, but had journeyed to Bethlehem to arrange certain
family affairs. Anna and her second husband and the Blessed Virgin with
some of her playmates went back to Galilee to Anna's home, which was
about an hour's distance from Nazareth. Anna arranged for the Holy
Family the little house in Nazareth, which also belonged to her, the
Blessed Virgin still living with her in the meantime during Joseph's
absence. Before communicating her vision of the Annunciation, Catherine
Emmerich recounted two fragments of earlier visions, whose significance
we can only conjecture. Some time after the marriage of the Blessed
Virgin to Joseph she recounted, still in a very weak state after a
serious illness:]
I had sight of a festival in Anna's house. I noticed her second
husband, some six guests besides the ordinary household, and some
children collected with Joseph and Mary round a table on which stood
goblets. The Blessed Virgin was wearing a colored cloak, woven with
red, blue, and white flowers like ancient chasubles. She had a
transparent veil and over it a black one. This festival seemed to be a
continuation of the wedding festival.
[She related no more about this, and one may suppose that it was the
meal taken when the Blessed Virgin left her mother after Joseph's
arrival and moved into the house in Nazareth with him. Next day she
related:] Last night in my vision I was looking for the Blessed Virgin,
and my guide brought me into the house of her mother Anna, which I
recognized in all its details. I no longer found Joseph and Mary there.
I saw Anna preparing to go to the near-by Nazareth, where the Holy
Family now lived. She had a bundle under her arm to take to Mary. She
went over a plain and through a thicket to Nazareth, which lies in
front of a hill. I went there, too. Joseph's house was not far from the
gate; it was not so large as Anna's house. A quadrangular fountain to
which several steps led down was near by, and there was a small square
court before the house. I saw Anna visiting the Blessed Virgin and
giving her what she had brought. I saw, too, that Mary shed many tears
and accompanied her mother, when she returned home, for part of the
way. I noticed St. Joseph in the front part of the house in a separate
room.
__________________________________________________________________
[75] Although in general late Jewish writers contest the statement that
women or virgins were engaged in the service of the Temple, we find
confirmation that this was so partly on the authority of the Church
(which celebrates the Feast of Our Lady's Presentation on Nov. 21st)
and partly in the Bible and in ancient writings. Already in the time of
Moses (see Exod. 38.8), and again in the last days of the Judges (1 Sam
2.22), we find women or virgins employed in the service of the Temple;
and in the description in Ps. 68 of the bringing of the Ark of the
Covenant to Mount Sion, there is an allusion in verses 25-26 to young
damsels playing on timbrels'. The statement that virgins were dedicated
to the Temple and brought up there is confirmed by Evodius, a pupil of
the Apostles and successor of St. Peter at Antioch (it is true that
this is in a letter first appearing in Nicephor, II, c. 3), who
expressly refers to Our Blessed Lady in this connection. Gregory of
Nyssa and John Damascene, amongst others, also mention this, while
Rabbi Asarja states in his work Imre Binah, c. 6o, that virgins devoted
to God's service lived in community in the Temple. We are thus able to
quote a Jewish authority for the existence of these Temple maidens.
(CB) Nicephor is the fourteenth-century Byzantine historian Nicephorus
Callistus, who wrote Ecclesiasticae Historiae, libri XVIII. Rabbi
Azarias ben Moses de'Rossi (1513/4-1578) was an Italian Jew. The
treatise Imre Bina (words of understanding') forms a part of his chief
work, Meor Enayim (light of the eyes'), published at Mantua in 1574.
Both are therefore very late authorities. (SB) In the Old Testament the
state of virginity was, at least in general, not considered as
meritorious. Among the countless forms of vows, which according to the
Mishnah were usual amongst the Jews of old, we find no trace of any vow
of chastity. As long as the coming of the Redeemer was in expectation
only, a marriage rich in children was the height of blessedness and
godliness on earth. See Ps. 126.3: The inheritance of the Lord are
children; the reward, the fruit of the womb': and, for one of God's
early blessings, see Deut. 7.14: Blessed shall you be among all people.
No one shall be barren among you of either sex.' This explains why the
priests did not yield to Mary's wish, even though instances of persons
vowed to chastity, especially among the Essenes, were by no means
unknown. (CB)
[76] It is remarkable that the apocryphal Protevangelium of James',
which the Church has pronounced not to be genuine, states among other
things that Mary journeyed from the Temple to Nazareth accompanied by
several maidens. These had been given by the Temple various threads to
spin, of which the scarlet and purple ones had fallen to Mary's lot.
Taking a jug, she went out to draw water, and lo, a voice said to her,
Hail, Mary', etc. Mary looked to right and left, to discover whence
this voice came, and went into the house in alarm. She put down the
jug, took the purple thread and laid it on her chair to work, and lo,
the angel of the Lord stood before her face and said, Fear not, Mary',
etc. Thus here, too, there is an allusion to a voice while Our Lady was
fetching water, but all happens in Nazareth and is connected with the
Annunciation. This event is similarly described in the apocryphal
History of Joachim and Anna and of the birth of Mary the blessed Mother
of God ever virgin and of the Childhood of the Redeemer,' printed by
Thilo from a Latin MS. in the Paris library; except that in this case
an interval of three days elapses between the voice at the fountain and
the appearance of the angel in salutation. (CB) CB's note needs
clarifying. AC distinguishes two angelic visits, the first here at the
well, at Jerusalem, with no apparition and no recorded voice (not in
the Gospel), and the second, later at Nazareth, after the wedding, the
Annunciation proper ( Luke 5.26-38). Among the Apocryphal Gospels Nat.
Mar. 9 simply follows St. Luke (one visit at Nazareth), while Ps-Matt.
9 gives the two visits, at the well and the Annunciation, at one day's
interval, but with no exact indication of place, and Protev. II (as
given here by CB) combines the episode at the well and the
Annunciation, and places it all at Nazareth. J. C. Thilo published a
collection of apocryphal texts at Leipzig in 1832. (SB)
[77] He is by tradition called Agabus, and in Raphael's representation
of the Betrothal of Our Lady (generally called Sposalizio') he is
pictured as a youth breaking his staff over his knee. (CB)
[78] The miracle of Joseph's rod (with the dove issuing from the rod)
appears in Protev. 9, Ps-Matt. 8, and (with the dove alighting on the
rod) in Nat. Mar. 8. The name Agabus for the unsuccessful suitor is not
found elsewhere. (SB)
[79] When the writer copied down these words of Catherine Emmerich--on
Aug. 4 ^th, 1821, he could not think of any reason why she should have
seen this picture on Aug. 3 ^rd. He was therefore greatly surprised at
reading, several years after Catherine Emmerich's death, in a Latin
document about the Blessed Virgin's wedding-ring (which is preserved in
Perugia), that it is shown to the public on Aug. 3 ^rd (III nonas
Augusti). Of this probably neither of us knew anything. (CB) Our Lady's
wedding-ring is preserved at the Cathedral of Perugia in a chapel which
also has a fine tabernacle (mentioned by AC) by Cesarino del Roscetto,
of 1519. Cf. Baedeker. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
VIII. THE ANNUNCIATION
[On March 25^th, 1821, Sister Emmerich said:] Last night I saw the
Annunciation as a Feast of the Church, and was once more definitely
informed that at this moment the Blessed Virgin had already been with
child for four weeks. This was expressly told me because I had already
seen the Annunciation on the 25^th of February, but had rejected the
vision and had not related it. Today I again saw the exterior
circumstances of the whole event.
Soon after the Blessed Virgin's marriage I saw her in Joseph's house in
Nazareth, where I was taken by my guide. Joseph had gone away with two
donkeys--I think to fetch either his tools or something that he had
inherited. He seemed to me to be on his way home. Anna's second husband
and some other men had been at the house in the morning, but had gone
away again. Besides the Blessed Virgin and two girls of her own age (I
think they were playfellows from the Temple), I saw in the house Anna
and her widowed cousin, who worked for her as serving-maid and later
went with her to Bethlehem after Christ's birth. The whole house had
been newly fitted out by Anna. I saw these four women going busily
about the house and then walking at leisure together in the courtyard.
Towards evening I saw them come back into the house and stand praying
at a little round table. Then, after eating some vegetables set before
them, they separated. Anna went to and fro in the house for some time
still, busying herself with household matters. The two girls went to
their separate room, and Mary, too, went into her bedchamber.
The Blessed Virgin's bedchamber was in the back part of the house, near
the hearth, which was here placed, not in the center as in Anna's
house, but rather on one side. The entrance to the bedchamber was
beside the kitchen. Three steps, not level but sloping, led up to it,
for the floor of this part of the house rested on a raised ledge of
rock. The wall of the room facing the door was rounded, and in this
rounded part (which was shut off by a high wicker screen) was the
Blessed Virgin's bed, rolled up. The walls of the room were covered up
to a certain height with wickerwork, rather more roughly woven than the
light movable screens. Different-colored woods had been used to make a
little checkered pattern on them. The ceiling was formed by
intersecting beams, the spaces between being filled with wickerwork
decorated with star-patterns.
I was brought into this room by the shining youth who always
accompanies me, and I will relate what I saw as well as such a poor
miserable creature is able.
The Blessed Virgin came in and went behind the screen before her bed,
where she put on a long white woolen praying-robe with a broad girdle,
and covered her head with a yellowish white veil. Meanwhile the maid
came in with a little lamp, lit a many-branched lamp hanging from the
ceiling, and went away again. The Blessed Virgin then took a little low
table which was leaning folded up against the wall and placed it in the
middle of the room. As it leant against the wall it was just a movable
table-leaf hanging straight down in front of two supports. Mary lifted
up this leaf and pulled forward half of one of the supports (which was
divided), so that the little table now stood on three legs. The
table-leaf supported by this third leg was rounded. This little table
was covered with a blue-and-red cloth, finished with a hanging fringe
along the straight edge of the table. In the middle of the cloth there
was a design, embroidered or quilted; I cannot remember whether it was
a letter or an ornament. On the round side of the table was a white
cloth rolled up, and a scroll of writing also lay on the table.
The Blessed Virgin put up this little table in the middle of the room,
between her sleeping place and the door, rather to the left, in a place
where the floor was covered by a carpet. Then she put in front of it a
little round cushion and knelt down with both hands resting on the
table. The door of the room was facing her on the right, and she had
her back to her sleeping place.
Mary let the veil fall over her face and crossed her hands (but, not
her fingers) before her breast. I saw her fervently praying thus for a
long time, with her face raised to heaven. She was imploring God for
redemption, for the promised King, and beseeching Him that her prayer
might have some share in sending Him. She knelt long in an ecstasy of
prayer; then she bowed her head onto her breast.
But now at her right hand there poured down such a mass of light in a
slanting line from the ceiling of the room that I felt myself pressed
back by it against the wall near the door. [See Figure 10.] I saw in
this light a shining white youth, with flowing yellow hair, floating
down before her. It was the Angel Gabriel. He gently moved his arms
away from his body as he spoke to her. I saw the words issuing from his
mouth like shining letters; I read them and I heard them. Mary turned
her veiled head slightly towards the right, but she was shy and did not
look up. But the angel went on speaking, and as if at his command Mary
turned her face a little towards him, raised her veil slightly, and
answered. The angel again spoke, and Mary lifted her veil, looked at
him, and answered with the holy words: Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
be it done to me according to your word.'
The Blessed Virgin was wrapped in ecstasy. The room was filled with
light [80] ; I no longer saw the glimmer of the burning lamp, I no
longer saw the ceiling of the room. Heaven seemed to open, a path of
light made me look up above the angel, and at the source of this stream
of light I saw a figure of the Holy Trinity in the form of a triangular
radiance streaming in upon itself. In this I recognized--what can only
be adored and never expressed--Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy
Ghost, and yet only God Almighty.
As soon as the Blessed Virgin had spoken the words, Be it done to me
according to your word', I saw the Holy Ghost in the appearance of a
winged figure, but not in the form of a dove as usually represented.
The head was like the face of a man, and light was spread like wings
beside the figure, from whose breast and hands I saw three streams of
light pouring down towards the right side of the Blessed Virgin and
meeting as they reached her. This light streaming in upon her right
side caused the Blessed Virgin to become completely transfused with
radiance and as though transparent; all that was opaque seemed to
vanish like darkness before this light. In this moment she was so
penetrated with light that nothing dark or concealing remained in her;
her whole form was shining and transfused with light. After this
penetrating radiance I saw the angel disappear, with the path of light
out of which he had come. It was as if the stream of light had been
drawn back into heaven, and I saw how there fell from it onto the
Blessed Virgin, as it was drawn back, a shower of white rosebuds each
with its little green leaf.
Figure 10. The Annunciation.
While I was seeing all this in Mary's chamber, I had a strange personal
sensation. I was in a state of constant fear, as if I was being
pursued, and I suddenly saw a hideous serpent crawling through the
house and up the steps to the door by which I was standing. The
horrible creature had made its way as far as the third step when the
light poured down on the Blessed Virgin. The serpent was three or four
feet long, had a broad flat head and under its breast were two short
skinny paws, clawed like bat's wings, on which it pushed itself
forward. It was spotted with all kinds of hideous colors, and reminded
me of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, only fearfully deformed. When
the angel disappeared from the Blessed Virgin's room, he trod on this
monster's head as it lay before the door, and it screamed in so ghastly
a way that I shuddered. Then I saw three spirits appear who drove the
monster out in front of the house with blows and kicks.
After the angel had disappeared, I saw the Blessed Virgin wrapped in
the deepest ecstasy. I saw that she recognized the Incarnation of the
promised Redeemer within herself in the form of a tiny human figure of
light, perfectly formed in all its parts down to its tiny fingers.
Here in Nazareth it is otherwise than in Jerusalem, where the women
must remain in the outer court and may not enter the Temple, where only
the priests may go into the Holy Place. Here in Nazareth, here in this
church, a virgin is herself the Temple, and the Most Holy is within
her, and the high priest is within her, and she alone is with Him. O,
how lovely and wonderful that is, and yet so simple and natural! The
words of David in the 45 ^th Psalm were fulfilled: The Most High has
sanctified His own tabernacle; God is in the midst thereof, it shall
not be moved.'
It was at midnight that I saw this mystery happen. After a little while
Anna with the other women came into Mary's room. They had been wakened
by a strange commotion in nature. A cloud of light had appeared above
the house. When they saw the Blessed Virgin kneeling under the lamp in
an ecstasy of prayer, they respectfully withdrew. After some time I saw
the Blessed Virgin rise from her knees and go to her little altar
against the wall. She unrolled the picture hanging on the wall which
represented a veiled human form--the same picture that I had seen in
Anna's house when she was making ready for the Blessed Virgin's journey
to the Temple [see p. 43 ]. She lit the lamp on the wall and stood
praying before it. Scrolls lay before her on a high desk. Towards
morning I saw her go to bed.
My guide now led me away; but when I came into the little court before
the house, I was seized with terror, for that fearful snake was lurking
there in hiding. It crept towards me and tried to shelter in the folds
of my dress. I was in dreadful fear; but my guide snatched me hurriedly
away, and those three spirits reappeared and smote the monster. I still
seem to hear with a shudder its appalling shrieks.
That night, as I contemplated the Mystery of the Incarnation, I was
taught many things. Mary was given the grace of interior knowledge. The
Blessed Virgin knew that she had conceived the Messiah, the Son of the
Most High. All that was within her was open to the eyes of her spirit.
But she did not then know that the Throne of David His father, which
was to be given Him by the Lord God, was a supernatural one; nor did
she then know that the House of Jacob, over which He was, as Gabriel
declared, to rule for all eternity, was the Church, the congregation of
regenerated mankind. She thought that the Redeemer would be a holy
king, who would purify His people and give them victory over Hell. She
did not then know that this King, in order to redeem mankind, must
suffer a bitter death.
It was made known to me why the Redeemer deigned to remain nine months
in His Mother's womb and to be born as a little child, and why it was
not His will to appear as perfect and beautiful as the newly-created
Adam; but I can no longer explain this clearly. I can, however,
remember this much--that it was His will to reconsecrate man's
conception and birth which had been so sadly degraded by the Fall. The
reason why Mary became His Mother and why He did not come sooner was
that she alone, and no creature before her or after her, was the pure
Vessel of Grace, promised by God to mankind as the Mother of the
Incarnate Word, by the merits of whose Passion mankind was to be
redeemed from its guilt. The Blessed Virgin was the one and only pure
blossom of the human race, flowering in the fullness of time. All the
children of God from the beginning of time who have striven after
salvation contributed to her coming. She was the only pure gold of the
whole earth. She alone was the pure immaculate flesh and blood of the
whole human race, prepared and purified and ordained and consecrated
through all the generations of her ancestors, guided, guarded, and
fortified by the Law until she came forth as the fullness of Grace. She
was pre-ordained in eternity and passed through time as the Mother of
the Eternal. [See Prov. 8.22-35.]
At the Incarnation of Christ the Blessed Virgin was a little over
fourteen years old. Christ reached the age of thirty-three years and
three times six weeks. I say three times six, because that figure was
in that moment shown to me three times one after the other.
__________________________________________________________________
[80] The tradition about the light at the Annunciation is preserved in
the liturgy (Mar. 25th, Resp. ii): Et expavescit Virgo de lumine.' (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
IX. THE VISITATION [81]
1. MARY AND JOSEPH TRAVEL TO VISIT ELIZABETH.
Some days after the Annunciation, St. Joseph returned to Nazareth and
made further arrangements for working at his craft in the house. He had
never lived in Nazareth before and had not spent more than a few days
there. Joseph knew nothing of the Incarnation; Mary was the Mother of
the Lord, but also the handmaid of the Lord, and she kept His secret in
all humility. When the Blessed Virgin felt that the Word was made Flesh
in her, she was conscious of a great desire to pay an immediate visit
to her cousin Elizabeth at Juttah near Hebron, whom the angel had told
her was now six months with child. As the time was now drawing near
when Joseph wished to go up to Jerusalem for the Passover, the Blessed
Virgin decided to accompany him in order to help Elizabeth in her
pregnancy. Joseph therefore started with the Blessed Virgin on the
journey to Juttah. [82]
[Catherine Emmerich described the following single scenes from the
journey of Joseph and Mary to Elizabeth; but it must be understood that
owing to her illness and to various interruptions very many gaps occur
in her account. She gave no description of their departure, but only a
few pictures from successive days of their journey, which we here
transcribe.]
They traveled in a southerly direction and had a donkey with them, on
which Mary rode from time to time. Some baggage was packed onto it,
amongst which was a striped sack of Joseph's (it seemed to me to be
knitted) in which was a long brownish garment of Mary's with a sort of
hood. This garment was fastened in front with ribbons. Mary put it on
when she went into the Temple or into a synagogue. On the journey she
wore a brown woolen undergarment, and over this a gray dress with a
girdle. Her head-covering was yellowish in color. They made the long
journey rather quickly. I saw them, after they had crossed the plain of
Esdrelon in a southerly direction, entering the house of a friend of
Joseph's father in the town of Dothan, on a hill. He was a well-to-do
man and came from Bethlehem. His father was called brother by Joseph's
father, though he was not really his brother, but he came of David's
line through a man who was, I think, also a king and was called Ela,
Eldoa, or Eldad, I cannot remember clearly which it was. [83] There was
much trading in this place.
Once, I saw them spending the night in a shed, and one evening, when
they were still twelve hours distant from Zechariah's dwelling, I saw
them in a wood, going into a hut of wattle-work, on which green leaves
and beautiful white flowers were growing. This hut was meant for
travelers: beside the roads in that country are many open arbors like
this, and even solid buildings. Travelers can spend the night in them,
or shelter from the heat and prepare the food which they have brought
with them. Some of these shelters are looked after by a family living
near at hand who are ready to supply any needs in return for a small
payment.
[Here there seems to be a gap in the account. Probably the Blessed
Virgin was present with Joseph at the Passover in Jerusalem, and did
not go to Elizabeth until after that; for while Joseph's journey to the
Feast is mentioned above, we are told later that Zechariah reached
home, after attending the Passover, the day before the Visitation.]
They did not go direct from Jerusalem to Juttah, but made a detour to
the east in order to avoid the crowds. They passed near a little town
two hours distant from Emmaus, and took roads which Jesus often
traveled in the years of His ministry. They still had two hills to
pass. Between these two hills I once saw them sitting and resting. They
were eating bread and mixing in their drinking water drops of balsam
which they had collected on their way. It was very hilly here. They
passed over-hanging rocks with great caves in which were all kinds of
strange stones. The valleys were very fertile. Then their path led them
through wood, moorland, meadows, and fields. Towards the end of their
journey I particularly noticed a plant with little delicate green
leaves and with flower-clusters of nine little pale-red, closed bells
or vessels. There was something in these with which I had to do but
what it was I cannot remember. [84]
2. MARY AND JOSEPH ARRIVE AT THE HOUSE OF ELIZABETH AND ZECHARIAH.
[The following visions were communicated by Catherine Emmerich partly
at the time of the Feast of the Visitation in July 1820 and partly at a
time when she had heard the words of Eliud, an aged Essene from
Nazareth. Eliud accompanied Jesus on His journey to His Baptism by John
in September of the first year of His ministry, and told Him many
things about the history of His parents and of His earliest childhood,
for Eliud was intimate with the Holy Family.]
Zechariah's house was on the top of a hill by itself. Other houses
stood in groups round about. Not far off a biggish stream flowed down
from the mountain. It seemed to me to be the moment when Zechariah was
returning home from the Passover at Jerusalem. I saw Elizabeth, moved
by great longing, going out of her house for a considerable distance on
the way to Jerusalem; and I saw how alarmed Zechariah was, as he made
his way home, to meet Elizabeth on the road so far from home in her
condition. She told him that she was so agitated in her heart because
she could not help thinking all the time that her cousin Mary of
Nazareth was coming to her. Zechariah tried to remove this impression
from her mind and explained to her, by signs and by writing on a
tablet, how unlikely it was that a newly married woman should undertake
so long a journey just then. They went back to the house together.
Elizabeth was, however, unable to abandon her expectation, for she had
learnt in a dream that one of her family had become the mother of the
promised Messiah. She had at once thought of Mary, had longed to see
her, and had in spirit perceived her in the distance on her way to her.
She had made ready a little room to the right of the entrance and had
placed seats in it. On the following day she sat there for a long time
waiting and gazing out of the house, watching for the coming visitor.
Then she got up and went a long way on the road to meet her.
Elizabeth was a tall aged woman with a small, delicate face. Her head
was wrapped in a veil. She only knew the Blessed Virgin by hearsay.
Mary saw her from far off and recognized her at once. She ran to meet
her, while Joseph discreetly remained behind. Mary was already among
the neighbors' houses, whose inhabitants, moved by her marvelous beauty
and struck by a supernatural dignity in her whole being, withdrew shyly
as she and Elizabeth met. They greeted each other warmly with
outstretched hands, and at that moment I saw a shining brightness in
the Blessed Virgin and as it were a ray of light passing from her to
Elizabeth, filling the latter with wonderful joy. They did not stay
near the people in the houses, but went, holding each other by the arm,
through the outer court towards the house. At the door Elizabeth once
more made Mary welcome, and they then went in. Joseph, who came into
the court leading the donkey, handed it over to a manservant and went
to Zechariah in an open hall at the side of the house. He greeted the
venerable old priest with great humility. Zechariah embraced him warmly
and spoke with him by writing on his tablet, for he was dumb since the
angel had appeared to him in the Temple. Mary and Elizabeth, after
passing through the house-door, came into a hall which, it seemed to
me, was also the kitchen. Here, they took each other by both arms. Mary
greeted Elizabeth very warmly, and each pressed her cheek against the
other's. Again I saw a radiance stream from Mary into Elizabeth,
whereby the latter was transfused with light. Her heart was filled with
holy joy. She stepped back, her hand raised, and exclaimed full of
humility, joy, and exaltation: Blessed are you among women and blessed
is the fruit of your womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of
my Lord should come to me? For behold as the voice of your salutation
sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed
are you that have believed, because those things shall be accomplished
that were spoken to you by the Lord.'
As she said the last words she led Mary into the little room which she
had prepared, so that she might sit down and rest after her journey. It
was only a few paces away. Mary let go Elizabeth's arm, which she had
clasped, crossed her hands over her breast and uttered the Magnificat
with exaltation.
(When the aged Essene Eliud conversed with Jesus, as mentioned above,
about this event, I heard him expounding the whole of Mary's song of
praise in a wonderful manner. I feel myself, however, incapable of
repeating this explanation.)
I saw that Elizabeth followed in prayer the whole of the Magnificat in
a similar state of exaltation; afterwards they sat down on quite low
seats with a table before them, also low, on which stood a little
goblet. O, I was so blissfully happy, I prayed with them the whole
time, and then I sat down near at hand: oh, I was so happy! [Catherine
Emmerich recounted this in the morning as if it had happened on the
previous day. In the afternoon she said in her sleep:] Joseph and
Zechariah are now together and are talking about the nearness of the
Messiah according to the fulfillment of the prophecies. Zechariah is a
tall handsome old man, dressed as a priest; he answers always with
signs or by writing on a tablet. They are sitting in an open hall at
the side of the house, looking on to the garden. Mary and Elizabeth are
sitting in the garden on a carpet under a big spreading tree; behind it
is a fountain from which water streams if one pulls at a tap. I see
grass and flowers round them, and trees with little yellow plums. They
are both eating little fruits and little loaves from Joseph's knapsack;
what touching simplicity and frugality! There are two maidservants and
two menservants in the house; I see them moving about here and there.
They are preparing a table with food under a tree. Zechariah and Joseph
come and eat a little. Joseph wanted to go back to Nazareth at once;
but I think he is going to stay a week. He knows nothing of the Blessed
Virgin being with child. Mary and Elizabeth were silent about it; in
the depths of their being, there was a secret understanding between
them. Several times in the day, and especially before meals when they
were all together, the two holy women said a kind of litany. Joseph
prayed with them, and I saw then a cross appear in the midst between
the two women (although as yet there was no cross); it was indeed as
though two crosses visited each other.
[On July 3 ^rd she related as follows:] Yesterday evening they ate all
together. They sat under a tree in the garden by the light of a lamp
till nearly midnight. Then I saw Joseph and Zechariah alone in a place
of prayer. I saw Mary and Elizabeth in their little room. They stood
opposite each other, as if rapt in ecstasy, and said the Magnificat in
prayer together. Besides the clothes already described the Blessed
Virgin wore a transparent black veil as well, which she lowered when
speaking with men. Today Zechariah took St. Joseph to another garden at
some distance from the house. Zechariah is very orderly and precise in
all he does. This garden is rich in beautiful trees and abundant fruit
and is very well kept. A shady alley leads through the middle of it. At
the end of the garden there is a little hidden summer-house with a door
at the side. In the top of this little house are window openings closed
by sliding shutters. In it is a wicker couch cushioned with moss or
other delicate plants. I also saw two white statues in it, of the size
of children. I do not quite know how they came to be there or what they
signified, but they seemed very like Zechariah and Elizabeth, only very
much younger.
This afternoon I saw Mary and Elizabeth working together in the house.
The Blessed Virgin took part in all the household work. She made
preparations for the child that was expected. I saw them both working
together, they were knitting a big coverlet for Elizabeth's lying-in.
Jewish women used coverlets like these when in child-bed; an inner
lining was fastened to the middle of it so that the mother could be
wrapped up together in it with her child. It was as if she were in a
little boat or in a big shoe, wrapped up herself like a child in
swaddling clothes. She was supported on pillows and could sit upright
or lie down, as she liked. The edges of the coverlet were sewn with
flowers and texts. Mary and Elizabeth prepared also many different
things as presents for the poor when the child was born. (I see Anna
often sending her maidservant to look after everything in the house at
Nazareth during the absence of the Holy Family. I saw her there once
herself.)
[On July 4 ^th she said:] Zechariah has gone with Joseph for a walk in
the fields. His house stands by itself on a hill. It is the best house
in the neighborhood. Others lie scattered around. Mary is rather tired.
She is alone with Elizabeth in the house.
[On July 5 ^th she said:] I saw Zechariah and Joseph spending last
night in the garden which is distant from the house, either sleeping in
the summer-house, or praying out of doors in the garden. At dawn they
returned to the house. I saw Elizabeth and the Blessed Virgin in the
house. Every morning and evening they joined together in prayer and
recited the Magnificat, which Mary had received from the Holy Ghost at
Elizabeth's greeting of her.
With the Angel's salutation the Blessed Virgin was consecrated as the
Church. With the words Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to
me according to your word', the Word entered into her, saluted by the
Church, by His maidservant. God was now in His Temple, Mary was now the
Temple and the Ark of the New Covenant. Elizabeth's greeting and the
movement of John beneath his mother's heart was the first act of
worship of the community in the presence of this Holy Thing. When the
Blessed Virgin uttered the Magnificat, the Church of the New Covenant,
of the new Espousals, celebrated for the first time the fulfillment of
the divine promises of the Old Covenant, of the old Espousals, and
poured forth thanks with a Te Deum laudamus. Ah, who can express the
wonder of seeing the devotion of the Church towards the Savior even
before His Birth!
Tonight, as I watched the two holy women at their prayers, I had many
visions and explanations of the Magnificat and of the coming of the
Blessed Sacrament in the present condition of the Blessed Virgin. The
illness from which I am now suffering and many disturbances have made
me quite forget all that I saw. From the passage in the Magnificat He
has shown might in His arm' onwards there appeared to me all kinds of
pictures from the Old Testament symbolic of the most holy Sacrament of
the Altar. Amongst them was a picture of Abraham sacrificing Isaac and
of Isaiah announcing something to a wicked king who scorned it. I have
forgotten this. I saw many things from Abraham to Isaiah and from
Isaiah to the Blessed Virgin, and in everything I always saw the coming
of the Blessed Sacrament to the Church of Jesus Christ, who was Himself
still resting under His Mother's heart. [85]
[After Catherine Emmerich had said this, she recited the Litany of the
Holy Ghost and the hymn Veni Sancte Spiritus and fell asleep smiling.
After a while she said with great fervor:] I must do nothing more at
all today and must allow nobody in. Then, I shall see again all that I
have forgotten. If I can only have complete quiet, I shall be able to
perceive and relate the holy mystery of the Ark of the Covenant and the
holy Sacrament of the Old Covenant. I have seen that time of quiet; it
is a beautiful time. I saw the writer beside me, and I am then to learn
very many things. [As she spoke these words, her face glowed in her
sleep like a child's: she drew from under the bed-covering her hands
marked with the wounds of the stigmata and said:] It is very warm where
Mary is in the Promised Land. They are now all going into the garden of
the house, first Zechariah and Joseph and then Elizabeth and Mary. An
awning like a tent is stretched under a tree. On one side stand low
seats with backs to them.
[She then continued:] I am to rest and see again all that I have
forgotten: that sweet prayer to the Holy Ghost has helped me, so sweet
and gentle it is. [At five o'clock in the evening she accused herself,
saying:] I weakly gave way and did not keep the command to allow nobody
in. A woman of my acquaintance came and talked for a long time of
hateful incidents which angered me. Then I fell asleep. God kept His
word better than me, for He showed me again all that I had forgotten;
but as a punishment most of it has again escaped me. [She then said
what follows. Although some of it is repetition, we reproduce it,
because we cannot express what she said otherwise than she herself did.
She said:] I saw as usual the two holy women with child standing
opposite one another in prayer and reciting the Magnificat. In the
middle of the prayer I was shown Abraham sacrificing Isaac. Here
followed a series of pictures symbolizing the coming of the Blessed
Sacrament. I do not think I have ever perceived so clearly the holy
mysteries of the Old Covenant.
[Next day she said:] As was promised to me, I perceived once more all
that I had forgotten. I was full of joy at being able now to relate so
many wonderful things about the Patriarchs and the Ark of the Covenant,
but there must have been a lack of humility in my joy, for God ordained
that I should no longer be able to set in order and communicate the
innumerable things that I perceived.
[The cause of this new disturbance was a particular incident which
renewed in her the sufferings of Our Lord's Passion, a phenomenon
constantly recurring in her life. This rendered her even more incapable
of consecutive narration. However, after her visions of the repeated
recital of the Magnificat by the two holy women, she communicated at
intervals much that she had learnt of the mysterious blessing in the
Old Testament and of the Ark of the Covenant, though in a fragmentary
and disconnected manner. We have tried therefore to compile them in
chronological order; but, that we may not interrupt the life of the
Blessed Virgin unduly, we shall add them in an appendix or keep them
for some other appropriate place.]
In the evening of yesterday, Friday, July 6 ^th, I saw Elizabeth and
the Blessed Virgin going to Zechariah's distant garden. They were
carrying fruit and little loaves of bread in a small basket and were
going to spend the night there. When Joseph and Zechariah came there
later, I saw the Blessed Virgin go towards them. Zechariah had his
little writing-tablet with him, but it had grown too dark for writing,
and I saw that Mary, by the interior bidding of the Holy Ghost, told
him that he would speak that night. Then I saw that Zechariah put away
his writing-tablet, and that he was able to speak with Joseph and pray
with him throughout that night. I saw this, and when I shook my head in
great surprise [86] and would not accept it, my guardian angel or
spiritual guide, who is always with me, said to me, pointing in another
direction, You do not believe this, then turn your eyes hither!' But
where he pointed I saw quite another picture from a much later time.
I saw the holy hermit St. Goar [87] in a place where corn was being
reaped. Messengers from a bishop who was ill-disposed towards him were
talking with him with evil intent. As he started off with them to go to
that bishop, I saw him looking round for a hook on which to hang his
cloak. He saw a ray of the sun shining through an opening in the wall,
and in his simple faith he hung his cloak on it, and I saw that the
cloak remained hanging firmly fixed in the air. I was amazed at this
miracle of simple faith, and was no longer surprised at Zechariah being
given the power of speech by the Blessed Virgin in whom God Himself
dwelt. My guide then spoke to me about what we call miracles, and I
remember distinctly that he said: A living child-like confidence in God
in all simplicity makes everything real, makes everything substantial.
What he said gave me a complete interior understanding about all
miracles, but I cannot express it perfectly.
I saw the four holy people spend the night in the garden. They sat down
and ate, or they walked two by two up and down, talking and praying,
and took it in turns to rest in the little summer-house. I understood
that when the Sabbath was over Joseph was to return to Nazareth, and
that Zechariah was to accompany him for part of the way. It was
moonlight and a clear starry sky. Round these holy people was
indescribable peace and beauty.
Again, as the two holy women prayed, I saw a part of the mystery of the
Magnificat, but am again to see all in the octave of the Feast before
Saturday or Sunday and shall then perhaps be able to tell something of
it. I am now only permitted to say: The Magnificat is a hymn of thanks
for the fulfillment of the blessing given in the sacrament of the Old
Covenant.
During Mary's prayer I saw a continuous succession of all her
ancestors. In the course of time there followed each other three times
fourteen marriages, in each of which the son succeeded directly to the
father: and from each of these marriages I saw a ray of light projected
towards Mary as she stood there in prayer. The whole vision grew before
my eyes like a family tree made by branches of light becoming ever
nobler and nobler, until at last, in a more clearly defined place in
this tree of light, I saw shine forth more brightly the holy and
immaculate flesh and blood of Mary, from which God was to become Man. I
prayed to her in yearning and hope, as full of joy as a child who sees
the Christmas tree towering above him. It was all a picture of the
coming of Jesus Christ in the Flesh and of His most holy Sacrament. It
was as though I saw the wheat ripening for the Bread of Life for which
I hunger. It is not to be expressed; I can find no words to say how
that Flesh was formed, in which the Word became Flesh. How can it be
expressed by a poor mortal who is still in that flesh of which the Son
of God and of Mary said the flesh profits nothing, it is the spirit
that quickens? He, who said that only those who ate His flesh and drank
His blood should have everlasting life and be raised up by Him in the
last day. Only His flesh and blood were meat and drink indeed; only
those who ate and drank thereof abode in Him and He in them.
I saw, in an inexpressible way, from the beginning, from generation to
generation, the approach of the Incarnation, and with it the approach
of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar. Then came a series of
patriarchs, followed by the institution of the priesthood to offer up
the living God among men as sacrifice and food until His Second
Coming--an institution conferred by the Incarnate God, the new and
redeeming Adam, upon His apostles and transmitted by them by the
laying-on of hands in an unbroken succession of generation after
generation of priests. In all this I clearly perceived how the chanting
of Our Lord's genealogy before the Blessed Sacrament on the Feast of
Corpus Christi contains a great mystery. I also perceived that, just as
amongst the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, there were some
who were not holy, and, indeed, were sinners, without however ceasing
to be the rungs in Jacob's ladder on which God descended to mankind, so
even unworthy bishops still have the power to consecrate the Blessed
Sacrament and to impart priestly ordination with all the powers
accompanying it. When one sees this one clearly understands why in old
German spiritual books the Old Testament is called the Old Covenant or
the Old Espousals, and the New Testament the New Covenant or the New
Espousals. The highest flowering of the Old Espousals was the Virgin of
Virgins, the Bride of the Holy Ghost, the most chaste Mother of the
Redeemer, the spiritual vessel of honor, the singular vessel of
devotion, in whom the Word became Flesh. With this mystery begins the
New Espousals, the New Covenant. In the priesthood and in all those who
follow the Lamb it bears the mark of virginity; in it marriage is a
great sacrament, that of Christ and His Bride, the Church ( Eph. 5.32).
In order to state as clearly as I can how the approach of the
Incarnation, and, with it, the approach of the most Holy Sacrament of
the Altar, was explained to me, I can only repeat how everything was
set before my eyes in a great series of pictures. Although, it is
impossible, owing to my present condition and to many interruptions
from without, to bring what I saw into a detailed and comprehensible
whole. I can only say in general: First I saw the Blessing of the
Promise which God gave to the First Man in Paradise, and from that
Blessing I saw a ray of light proceed to the Blessed Virgin as she
stood there opposite St. Elizabeth, reciting the Magnificat in prayer.
Then I saw Abraham, who had received this Blessing from God, and I
again saw a ray of light proceeding from him to the Blessed Virgin.
Then came the other Patriarchs who were the holders and bearers of that
holy treasure, and from each of them a ray of light fell upon Mary.
Then I saw the passage of this Blessing down the ages until it reached
Joachim. He was endowed with the highest Blessing from the inmost
sanctuary of the Temple so that he might become the father of the most
holy Virgin Mary conceived without original sin. In her, the Word
became Flesh by the operation of the Holy Ghost and dwelt amongst us,
hidden for nine months in her, as the Ark of the Covenant of the New
Testament, until, in the fullness of time, we saw His glory, born of
the Virgin Mary, a glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
[On July 7 ^th she said:] Last night I saw the Blessed Virgin in
Elizabeth's house asleep in her little room, lying on her side with her
head resting on her arm. [See Figure 11.] She was wrapped from head to
foot in a long white covering. Beneath her heart I saw a glory of light
streaming out; it was pear-shaped and in the center of it was an
indescribably bright little flame of light. In Elizabeth I saw a glory
shining which was larger and rounder but not so bright, and the light
within it was less bright.
[On July 8 ^th (a Saturday) she said:] When the Sabbath began
yesterday, Friday evening, I saw a lamp being lit and the Sabbath being
celebrated in a room in Zechariah's house which I had not seen before.
Zechariah, Joseph, and some six other men, probably from the
neighborhood, were praying under the lamp. They were standing round a
chest with scrolls lying on it. They were wearing cloths hanging down
over their heads; they did not make as many contortions as the Jews of
today, though they occasionally bowed their heads and raised their
arms. Mary, Elizabeth, and a few other women stood apart behind a
grating in an alcove from which they could see into the praying-place.
All their heads were covered with praying-mantles. After the Sabbath
meal I saw the Blessed Virgin in her little room with Elizabeth,
standing and reciting the
Figure 11. Mary resting at Elizabeth's house. Magnificat in prayer. Her
hands were crossed on her breast and her black veil lowered over her
face; they stood opposite each other against the wall, praying as
though in choir. I recited the Magnificat in prayer with them, and
again, during the second part of it, which refers to the promises of
God, I had many glimpses, near and distant, of single ancestors of
Mary, from whom threads of light proceeded towards her, as she stood
before me praying. These threads or rays of light came, I saw, always
out of the mouth of her male ancestors, whereas those from the female
ones came from under their hearts and ended in the glory within Mary.
Abraham must (at the time when his blessing was brought to bear on the
future of the Blessed Virgin) have lived near the place where the
Blessed Virgin was now reciting the Magnificat, for I saw the ray of
light from him streaming upon her from quite near; whereas, I saw the
rays from persons much nearer to her in time coming from a much greater
distance.
After they had finished the Magnificat, which I always saw them
reciting morning and evening since the Visitation, Elizabeth withdrew
and I saw the Blessed Virgin going to bed. She took off her girdle and
her upper garment, leaving only her long brown undergarment. She took a
roll of stuff lying at the head of her low couch which I should
otherwise have taken to be a bolster, but now saw was a rolled-up
length of woolen material almost a yard wide. She held one end of it
tight under one arm-pit, and then wrapped it round and round her body
from head to foot and then upwards so that she was quite enveloped in
it and could only make short steps. Her arms were free below the elbows
and the face and throat were open. She wrapped herself up in this way
standing beside her couch, which was slightly raised at the head, and
then lay down straight on it, stretched out on her side, her cheek
resting on her hand. I did not see men sleeping wrapped up in this way.
[On Sunday, July 9 ^th, she said:] Yesterday, Saturday, I saw Zechariah
during the whole of the Sabbath in the same dress that he put on at the
beginning of it. He had a long white robe with not very full sleeves.
He was girt about several times with a broad girdle inscribed with
letters and with straps hanging from it. At the back of his robe was
fastened a hood which fell in folds from his head down his back, like a
veil gathered together at the back. When he had something to do in the
course of the day on Saturday or had to go anywhere, he threw his robe
over one shoulder and tucked it under his girdle below the other arm.
Each leg was wrapped round with broad bands separately like trousers,
and these wrappings were held fast by the straps with which his sandals
were attached to his bare feet. Today he also showed Joseph his
priest's mantle, which was very beautiful. It was an ample, heavy
mantle, of shining material shot with purple and white, and was
fastened at the breast with three jeweled clasps. It had no sleeves.
I did not see them eating again until Sunday evening when the Sabbath
was over. They ate together under the tree in the garden by the house.
They ate green leaves which they dipped into sauce and they sucked
little green bundles also dipped in sauce. There were also on the table
little bowls of some small fruit, and other bowls from which they ate
something with transparent brown flat spoons. I think it was honey,
which they ate with flat horn spoons. I also saw little loaves being
brought to them to eat.
After this Joseph, accompanied by Zechariah, started on his journey
home. It was a still moonlight night full of stars. They prayed
beforehand all separately. Joseph again had his little bundle with him,
in which were small loaves and a little jug, and his staff with a crook
at the top. Zechariah had a long staff with a knob. They both wore
their traveling mantles over their heads. Before they went, they
embraced Mary and Elizabeth alternately by clasping them to their
breasts. I did not see them kiss each other then. They went off gaily
and quietly, and the two women accompanied them for a short while,
after which they wandered off alone through the indescribably lovely
night. Mary and Elizabeth then went back into the house, into Mary's
room. A lamp was burning there on an arm projecting from the wall. This
was always so when she prayed and when she went to bed. The two women
again stood opposite to each other, veiled, and recited the Magnificat
in prayer. On this occasion the promised vision, which I had forgotten,
was repeated: but I have seen so much tonight that I can say but little
of it. I only saw the handing down of the Blessing until it came to
Joseph in Egypt.
[On July 11 ^th she said:] Last night I had a vision of Mary and
Elizabeth of which I only remember that they prayed the whole night
long. I cannot recollect the cause. In the daytime I saw Mary doing all
kinds of work, for instance, weaving coverlets. I saw Joseph and
Zechariah still on their journey: they spent the night in a shed. They
had made long detours and had, I believe, paid many visits. I think
they spent three days on their journey. Except this I have forgotten
almost everything.
[On July 13 ^th she said:] I saw Joseph once more in his house
yesterday, Wednesday the 12 ^th. He seems to have gone straight home
without passing through Jerusalem. Anna's maidservant is looking after
everything for him and keeps going to and fro between his house and
Anna's. Otherwise Joseph was alone. I saw Zechariah coming home again.
As always, I saw Mary and Elizabeth reciting the Magnificat in prayer
and working together. Towards evening they walked in the garden, where
there was a fountain, which is unusual here; they always had a little
jug of juice with them. Towards evening, when it grew cool, they
generally went for a walk in the country round, for Zechariah's house
was isolated and surrounded by meadows. They usually went to bed at
nine o'clock, but always got up before sunrise.
[This is all that Catherine Emmerich communicated of her visions of the
Blessed Virgin's visit to Elizabeth. It should be noticed that she
described this event on the occasion of the Feast of the Visitation at
the beginning of July, but that the actual visit probably took place in
March, since she saw the message of the Incarnation being given to the
Blessed Virgin already on February 25 ^th, and closely followed by the
Blessed Virgin's journey to Elizabeth. That journey was, according to
Catherine Emmerich, undertaken when Joseph went to attend the Passover,
which began on the 14 ^th of the month Nisan, corresponding to our
month of March.
3. THE BIRTH OF JOHN. MARY RETURNS TO NAZARETH.
[On June 9 ^th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich discovered near her a relic of
Christ's disciple Parmenas, and amongst other visions having reference
to this saint she communicated the following, which belongs to this
portion of her narrative.]
After the Blessed Virgin's return from Juttah to Nazareth I saw her
spending several days in the house of the parents of Parmenas, Our
Lord's future disciple, who was not yet born. [88] I think I saw this
at the same time of year as it actually happened. I had that impression
during my vision. In that case the birth of John the Baptist would have
happened at the end of May or the beginning of June. Mary stayed for
three months with Elizabeth, until after the birth of John, but was not
present on the occasion of his circumcision. [Owing to interruptions,
Catherine Emmerich did not relate anything further about John's birth
or circumcision, and we therefore refer the reader to the words of the
Gospel ( St. Luke 1.57-80).]
The Blessed Virgin returned home to Nazareth after John's birth and
before his circumcision. Joseph came to meet her-half-way. [Catherine
Emmerich was so ill and agitated that she did not tell who accompanied
the Blessed Virgin till then, nor did she mention the place where she
met Joseph. Perhaps this was Dothan, where they stayed on their journey
to Elizabeth with the friend of Joseph's father. She was no doubt
accompanied there by relations of Zechariah or by friends from Nazareth
who were undertaking the same journey. What follows may be taken as
confirming this supposition.]
When Joseph traveled back with the Blessed Virgin during the second
half of her journey from Juttah to Nazareth, he noticed from her figure
that she was with child, and was sore beset by trouble and doubt, for
he knew nothing of the Angel's annunciation to the Blessed Virgin.
Immediately after his marriage, Joseph had gone to Bethlehem to arrange
about some inheritance; in the meantime Mary had gone to Nazareth with
her parents and some of her play-fellows. The angelic salutation
happened before Joseph returned to Nazareth. Mary in shy humility had
kept God's secret to herself. Joseph, though greatly disquieted by what
he had perceived, said nothing, but struggled in silence with his
doubts. [89] The Blessed Virgin, who had foreseen this trouble, became
thoughtful and serious, which only increased St. Joseph's uneasiness.
When they came to Nazareth, I saw that the Blessed Virgin did not at
once go into Joseph's house with him, but spent a few days with
relations. These were the parents of a son, Parmenas (not yet born),
who became a disciple of Jesus and was one of the seven deacons in the
first community of Christians in Jerusalem. These people were related
to the Holy Family, for the mother was a sister of the third husband of
Mary Cleophas, the father of Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem. They had a
house and a garden of spices in Nazareth. They were also related to the
Holy Family through Elizabeth. I saw that the Blessed Virgin stayed for
several days with these people before she came to Joseph's house.
Joseph's uneasiness increased, however, to such an extent that, now
that Mary was preparing to return to him in his house, he made up his
mind to leave her and to disappear in secret. While he was harboring
this thought, an Angel appeared to him in a dream and reassured him.
__________________________________________________________________
[81] The Visitation: Luke 1.39-56. St. Joseph's worries: Matt. 1.18-25.
[82] Juttah near Hebron; Luke 1.39 says: Into the hill country . . .
into a city of Judah.' It has been suggested that Judah' was written by
mistake for Juttah'. (SB)
[83] Catherine Emmerich saw Jesus at Dothan in this house on Nov. 2nd
(the 12th day of the month Marcheswan) of the thirty-first year of His
Life. He was healing the dropsy of Issachar, the fifty-year-old husband
of the daughter of this family, whose name was Salome. On that occasion
Issachar spoke of the visit of Joseph and Mary here mentioned. The
descendant of David whose name is given uncertainly by Catherine
Emmerich as Eldoa or Eldad, and whom she describes as being the link
between Joseph's and Salome's families, might perhaps have been Elioda
or Eliada, a son of David's, mentioned in 2 Kings 5.16, and in 1
Chronicles 3.8. Although it may seem natural that Catherine Emmerich
should confuse various name-sounds, such confusion should not
necessarily always be assumed. Hebrew proper names have a very definite
signification; but since the same signification can be conveyed in
speaking by several different expressions, one person may often bear
different names. Thus we find a son of David's sometimes called Elishua
(God helps') and sometimes Elishama (God hears'); and Eldea or Eldaa
may mean God comes' just as much as Eliada. The uncertain mention of
this descendant of David's as being also a king need not surprise us,
for there can be no doubt that David's sons or descendants administered
the government in the vassal states. (CB) The Vulgate forms of the name
of David's son are Elisua in 2 Kings. ( Sam.) 5.15, and Elisama in 1
Chr. 3.6. In Hebrew, Elishua (God saves') and Elishama (God hears').
The name of the son Elioda or Eliada is in both places Elyada, which
with its by-forms means God knows', (SB)
[84] A learned friend tells me that this flower is probably the
cypress-cluster (Lawsonia spinosa inermis, Linn.) mentioned in the
Canticle of Canticles, 1.13: A cluster of cypress my love is to me in
the vineyards of Engaddi.' Mariti, in his journey through Syria and
Palestine, mentions this shrub and its flowers in the region here
traversed by the Blessed Virgin. He describes the leaves as smaller and
more delicate than those of the myrtle; the flowers are, he says,
rose-red and the flower-cluster shaped like a bunch of grapes. This
agrees with the general description given by Catherine Emmerich. (CB)
[85] The message of Isaiah which she has forgotten is beyond doubt his
prophecy to King Ahaz: Is. 7.3-25. (CB
[86] AC expresses surprise at Zechariah's release from dumbness, but
this was presumably temporary and by miraculous intervention--the
lesson of the story of St. Goar--since at the birth of John the Baptist
he was still dumb ( Luke 2.62-64). AC has nothing about the birth of
the child. (SB)
[87] His feast is on July 6th (the day when Catherine Emmerich made
this communication), a fact unknown at the time to the writer. When he
learnt it later by a casual glance at the calendar, he received a fresh
confirmation of the organic connection of all her visions with the
festivals of the Church. (CB) St. Goar, the hermit of Oberwesel on the
Rhine, died c. 575 (Ramsgate, Book of Saints, 1947). (SB)
[88] Parmenas was one of the seven deacons ( Acts 6.5). Cf. following
page. (SB)
[89] AC's account of St. Joseph's worry in silence accords with Matt.
1.19-20, in strong contrast with the unseemly doubts fancied in the
Apocryphal Gospels, especially in Protev. 13. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
X. THE CENSUS AND THE JOURNEY OF THE HOLY FAMILY [90]
1. THE CENSUS OF THE EMPEROR AUGUSTUS IS PROCLAIMED. CHRIST'S BIRTH IN NOVEMBER.
The actual date of Christ's Birth, as I always see it, is four weeks
earlier than its celebration by the Church; it must have happened on
St. Catherine's feast day. I always see the Annunciation as happening
at the end of February. Already at the end of October, I saw it being
announced in the Promised Land that an enrollment and taxing of the
people was to be made by decree of the Emperor. After that I saw many
people traveling up and down the country.
2. ST. ANNE'S HOUSE IN NAZARETH. PREPARING FOR CHRIST'S BIRTH.
[Sunday, November 11 ^th, 1821:] For several days in succession I have
seen the Blessed Virgin with her mother Anna, whose house is about an
hour's journey away from Nazareth in the valley of Zabulon. The only
woman remaining in the Blessed Virgin's house at Nazareth is Anna's
maidservant, who looks after St. Joseph while Mary is with Anna. In
fact, as long as Anna was alive they had no completely separate
household, but always received their provisions from her. For several
weeks already I have seen the Blessed Virgin busy with preparations for
the Birth of Christ. She is sewing and knitting coverlets, cloths, and
swaddling-bands. There is more than enough of everything.
Joachim is no longer alive; I see another man in the house. Anna has
married again. Her second husband was employed in the Temple in
connection with the beasts for sacrifice. I saw Anna sending him out
food when he was with the flocks and herds; there were little loaves
and fishes in a leathern wallet with several divisions in it. There is
a rather tall little girl, about seven years old, in the house, who
helps the Blessed Virgin and is taught by her. I think she might be a
daughter of Mary Cleophas. Her name was Mary, too. Joseph is not at
Nazareth, but must soon be coming, for he is on his way back from
Jerusalem, where he has taken beasts for sacrifice.
I saw the Blessed Virgin in the house. She was far advanced in
pregnancy, and sat in a room working with several other women. They
were preparing coverlets and other things for Mary's confinement. Anna,
who possessed pastures with flocks and herds, was well-to-do. She
supplied the Blessed Virgin with plenty of everything that it was
customary for a person in her rank of life to have. As she thought that
Mary would be in her (Anna's) house for the birth of her child, and
that all her relations would come to visit her there, she made all the
preparations in a very lavish manner, with specially beautiful
coverlets and rugs. I saw a coverlet of the kind that was in
Elizabeth's house when John was born. It was embroidered with all kinds
of texts and emblems, and had a kind of inner lining sewn into it in
which the mother could wrap herself. She could fasten this lining round
her with tapes and buttons, and be as it were in a little boat or like
a baby in its swaddling-bands. She could recline comfortably in it,
supported by cushions, when visited by friends, and the latter sat
round her on the edge of the coverlet. All these things, as well as
many swaddling-bands for the child itself, were prepared in Anna's
house. I saw gold and silver threads being used. Not all the coverlets
and other things were for Mary's own use; much was intended as presents
for the poor, who were always remembered on happy occasions of this
kind. I saw the Blessed Virgin and other women sitting on the floor
round a big chest, knitting and working at a big coverlet lying in the
chest between them. They used two little sticks on which colored
threads were wound. Anna was very busy; she went here and there
fetching and distributing wool and apportioning their tasks to her
maidservants.
3. JOSEPH IS TOLD TO TRAVEL WITH MARY TO BETHLEHEM.
[November 12 ^th:] Joseph will arrive back in Nazareth today. He was in
Jerusalem, taking beasts there for sacrifice. He left them at the
little inn a quarter of an hour on the road from Jerusalem to
Bethlehem. The house was kept by a devout old childless couple. It was
a suitable lodging for quiet people. Joseph went from there to
Bethlehem, but did not visit his relations in that town. He only wanted
to find out about an enrolment and taxation of the people which made it
necessary for everyone to betake himself to his birthplace. He did not,
however, have himself inscribed as yet, because he intended to journey
with Mary to the Temple in Jerusalem after the days of her
purification, and then to go to Bethlehem and settle there. I do not
know for certain what were his reasons, but Joseph did not like being
in Nazareth. [91] He therefore looked about him in Bethlehem and made
inquiries about stones and timber, for he had it in his mind to build
himself a house there. Having found out what he wanted, he returned to
the inn near Jerusalem, took his sacrifice to the Temple, and hurried
home again.
As he was crossing the field of Chimki, [92] six hours from Nazareth,
at midnight last night, an angel appeared to him and warned him that he
was to go to Bethlehem with Mary at once, for it was there that she was
to bear her child. He also indicated everything that she was to take
with her for her use, explaining that they were to be few and simple
things, and in particular no embroidered coverlets. Also, besides the
ass upon which Mary was to sit, he was to take with him a she-ass one
year old that had not yet had a foal. He was to let her run free and
was always to follow whatever path she took. This evening Anna went
with the Blessed Virgin to Nazareth; no doubt they knew that Joseph was
arriving. But they do not seem to know that Mary would journey to
Bethlehem from Anna's house. They thought no doubt that Mary would bear
her child in her own house in Nazareth, for I saw them taking there,
packed in saddle-bags, many of the things they had prepared. I saw
amongst them several shawls of blue material with hoods. I think they
were meant for wrapping the child in. Joseph arrived at Nazareth in the
evening.
4. JOSEPH REVEALS TO MARY THE ANGEL'S COMMANDMENT.
[November 13 ^th:] Today I saw the Blessed Virgin and her mother Anna
in the house in Nazareth, where Joseph revealed to them what had been
told him the previous night. Thereupon they returned to Anna's house,
and I saw them preparing to leave immediately. Anna was distressed. The
Blessed Virgin must have known that she was to bear her child in
Bethlehem, but had been silent out of humility. She knew it from the
writings of the Prophets about the birth of the Messiah, all of which
she treasured in her little cupboard at Nazareth. (She had been given
them by her women-teachers in the Temple and had been instructed in
them by these holy women. She used to read them very often and pray for
their fulfillment. Her prayers were ever full of yearning for the
coming of the Messiah; she ever extolled as blessed her who should bear
the holy child, and hoped only to be allowed to serve her as her lowest
maidservant. Never in her humility had she thought that she herself
might be the chosen one.) Since she knew from those passages in the
Prophets that the Savior was to be born in Bethlehem, she yielded
joyfully to the Divine Will and began the journey, which was difficult
for her at that time of the year, when it was often decidedly cold in
the valleys between the ranges of hills.
5. ON THE JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM
This evening I saw Joseph and the Blessed Virgin, accompanied by Anna,
Mary Cleophas, and some menservants, starting off from Anna's house.
Mary sat on the comfortable side-saddle of a donkey, which also carried
her baggage. Joseph led the donkey. A second donkey was taken for Anna
to ride back on. Her husband was away in the fields when they started
on their journey.
5.1 THE FIELD GINIM. THE TRAVELERS ARE GIVEN A YOUNG SHE-ASS FROM ANNA'S
PASTURE.
[November 14 ^th:] This morning I saw the holy travelers arrive at an
open field called Ginim, [93] six hours' journey from Nazareth, where
the angel had appeared to Joseph two days before. Anna had a pasture
here and the menservants were told to fetch the young she-ass which
Joseph was to take with him. She sometimes ran in front of them and
sometimes beside them. Anna and Mary Cleophas here took a tender
farewell of the travelers and returned home with the menservants.
(This field Ginim is several miles long and is shaped like a pear.
Another field, called Gimmi, lies nearer Nazareth not far from a
shepherds' village high up in the hills called Gimmi or Gimchi, where
Jesus taught shepherds from the 7 ^th to the 9 ^th of September before
His Baptism. These shepherds had lepers hidden among them. He also
healed here the dropsical woman of the house where He stayed, and was
mocked by the Pharisees. Farther away from this place and to the
south-west of Nazareth, beyond the river Kishon, is a settlement of
lepers, consisting of scattered huts round a lake formed by the river.
Jesus healed here on September 30 ^th before His Baptism. The field
Ginim, traversed today by the Holy Family, is separated from the other
field Gimmi by a little river or river-bed. The names are so alike that
I may easily have confused them.)
I saw the Holy Family going on their way and climbing Mount Gilboa.
[94] They did not pass through any town; they followed the young
she-ass, which always took lonely by-ways. I saw them stopping at a
house in the hills belonging to Lazarus, not far from the town of Ginim
and in the direction of Samaria. The steward, who knew them from other
journeys, gave them a friendly welcome. Their family was on intimate
terms with Lazarus. There are beautiful orchards and avenues here. The
house stands high, so that one has a very wide view from the roof.
Lazarus inherited it from his father; our Lord Jesus often stayed here
during His ministry and taught in the surrounding country. The steward
and his wife conversed in a very friendly way with the Blessed Virgin.
They were surprised that she should have been willing to undertake such
a long journey in her condition, when she might have had every comfort
at home with her mother Anna.
5.2 TRAVELING AT NIGHT. MARY AND JOSEPH REST AT THE TEREBINTH OF ABRAHAM.
[Thursday to Friday night, November 15 ^th-16 ^th:] I saw the Holy
Family some hours' journey beyond this last place, going at night
towards a mountain through a very cold valley. It looked as if there
was hoar-frost on the ground. The Blessed Virgin was suffering from the
cold and said to Joseph: We must rest, I can go no farther.' Hardly had
she spoken when the she-ass that was running with them stood still
under a terebinth tree, very big and old, near which was a spring of
water. They stopped under this tree; Joseph spread coverings for the
Blessed Virgin to sit on, after helping her to alight from the donkey,
and she sat down under the tree. Joseph hung a lighted lantern, which
he carried with him, on the lower branches of the tree. (I often saw
travelers in that country do this at night.) The Blessed Virgin prayed
earnestly to God that He would not suffer her to take harm from the
cold. At once she was filled with so great a warmth that she held out
her hands to St. Joseph to warm his. They refreshed themselves here
with fruit and little loaves of bread which they had with them, and
drank water from the spring near by, mixing it with balsam which Joseph
had brought with him in a little jug. Joseph spoke very comfortingly to
the Blessed Virgin: he is so good, and so sorry that the journey is so
difficult. When the Blessed Virgin complained of the cold, he spoke to
her about the good lodging which he hoped to find for her in Bethlehem.
He said he knew of a house with very good people where they would find
a comfortable lodging at very little cost. It was, he said, better to
pay something than to be taken in for nothing. He spoke highly of
Bethlehem in general, and comforted the Blessed Virgin in every
possible way. (This upset me, because I knew well that things would
turn out quite differently. Even this holy man, you see, indulged in
human hopes.)
So far they have crossed two little streams in the course of their
journey: one of these they crossed on a high foot-way, while the two
donkeys waded through the water. It was strange to see how the young
she-ass, who was free to go where she would, kept running round the
travelers. Where the path narrowed, as for instance between hills, and
so could not be mistaken, she ran sometimes before and sometimes behind
them, but where there was a parting of the ways she always appeared
again and took the right path. Where they were to rest, she stood
still, as here by the terebinth tree. I do not remember whether they
spent the night under the tree, or whether they went on to another
shelter.
This terebinth was a very old and sacred tree, of the grove of Moreh
near Shechem. When Abraham was journeying into the land of Canaan, he
had here a vision of God, who promised him this land for his
descendants. ( Gen. 15.) He then built an altar under the terebinth.
Before Jacob went to Bethel, to sacrifice to the Lord, he buried under
this terebinth all the strange gods of Laban and the jewels which his
family carried with him. ( Gen. 35.4.) Under this tree Joshua built the
tabernacle for the Ark of the Covenant and made the people assembled
there renounce their idols. ( Joshua 24.26.) It was here that
Abimelech, the son of Gideon, was hailed as king of the Shechemites. (
Judges 9.6.)
5.3 TWO HOURS SOUTH OF THE TEREBINTH TREE. THEY REST IN AN EMPTY SHED.
[November 16 ^th:] I saw the Holy Family spending the whole day here
and praying together. I saw the mistress of the house and her three
children with the Blessed Virgin, and the farmer's wife of the day
before also came with her two children and paid the Blessed Virgin a
visit. There was real intimacy among them as they sat together, and the
two women were greatly impressed by Mary's wisdom and modest behavior.
They listened with great attention to the Blessed Virgin, who talked
much with the children and taught them. The children had little
parchment rolls from which Mary made them read to her. She spoke to
them in such a lovely way about what they read that they could not take
their eyes off her. It was sweet to see and sweeter still to hear. In
the afternoon I saw St. Joseph walking about with the innkeeper in the
country round, looking at the gardens and fields, and talking of holy
things, as I saw was always the Sabbath practice of devout people in
that land. They remained here for the following night as well.
5.5 THEY TRAVEL FURTHER SOUTH-EAST. THEY SEE THE TEMPLE ON MOUNT GARIZIM.
[Sunday, November 18 ^th:] The good people of this inn have become
extremely fond of the Blessed Virgin, and have an intense sympathy with
her and with her condition. They begged her in the most friendly way to
stay and await her confinement here. They even showed her a comfortable
room which they would make ready for her. The woman offered her, with
all her heart, to care for her and look after her in every way.
However, they started again on their journey early in the morning, and
went down a valley on the south-eastern side of the mountains. They
went farther away from Samaria, towards which the first part of their
journey seemed to be directed. As they descended the hill, they could
see the temple on Mount Garizim, which is visible from a great
distance. There are many figures of lions or other animals on the roof
which gleam white in the sunshine. I saw them traveling about six hours
today, and towards evening I saw them arrive at a large shepherd's
house in a field, where they were well received. This was about an
hour's journey to the south-east of Shechem.
The man of the house was a steward of the orchards and fields belonging
to the neighboring town. The house was not right down in the plain, but
on a slope. All the country here was better and more fertile than
during the first part of their journey, for this was the sunny side,
and in the Promised Land at this time of year that makes a considerable
difference. Between here and Bethlehem lay many other shepherds'
dwellings, scattered about in the intersecting valleys. The people here
belonged to those shepherds whose daughters later married some of the
followers of the three holy kings who remained behind when their
masters left. From one of these marriages came a boy who was healed by
Our Lord in this house at the Blessed Virgin's request in the second
year of His ministry, on July 31 ^st (the 7 ^th day of the month Ab)
after He had talked with the Samaritan woman. Jesus took him with two
other youths as companions on His journey to Arabia, after the raising
of Lazarus, and afterwards he became a disciple. Jesus often stayed
here and taught. There were children in the house, and Joseph blessed
them before he went away.
[November 19 ^th:] Today I saw them traveling in more level country.
The Blessed Virgin sometimes goes on foot. They often stop to rest and
refresh themselves. They have little loaves with them, and a drink
which is both cooling and strengthening. This is contained in
delicately made little jugs shining like bronze, with two ears. It is
balsam, which they mix with water. They sometimes pick berries and
fruits which may still be found hanging in sunny places on the trees
and bushes. Mary's saddle on the donkey has a foot-rest hanging on each
side, so that her feet do not hang down as is usual in our country. She
sits sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left of the
pack-donkey, which moves very quietly and evenly. Joseph's first
action, whenever they rest by the way or stop for the night, is to make
ready a comfortable place for the Blessed Virgin to sit and rest. He
often washes his feet, and Mary does the same. They have the habit of
washing often.
It was already dark when they came to a house standing by itself.
Joseph knocked at the door and asked for lodging. The master of the
house refused, however, to open, and when Joseph explained Mary's
condition and said that she could go no farther, adding that he was not
asking for lodging without payment, the hard-hearted man retorted
angrily that his house was not an inn, and that he wanted to be left
alone and not disturbed by knocking, which he could not bear. He told
Joseph to go on his way, and was so relentless that he did not even
open the door, but shouted his harsh words from behind it. So they went
on a little way and turned into a shed where they found the she-ass
standing. Joseph kindled a light and prepared a bed for the Blessed
Virgin, with her help. He brought the pack-donkey in, too, and found
some straw and fodder for him. They prayed, took some refreshment, and
slept for a few hours. It must be about six hours' journey from the
last inn to this place. They must be some twenty-six hours from
Nazareth and ten from Jerusalem. Until now they have not taken any
high-roads, but have cut across several trade-roads leading from the
Jordan to Samaria and running into the highways which go from Syria to
Egypt. The by-roads which they took are very small, and in the
mountains sometimes so narrow that a man must pick his way very
carefully so as not to stumble. The donkeys, however, are very
sure-footed. Their shelter here was on level ground.
5.6 BETWEEN SAMARIA AND JUDEA. THE FRUITLESS FIG TREE NORTH-EAST OF BETHANY.
[November 20 ^th:] The day had not yet broken when they left this
place. Their way led uphill again. I think they were near the road
leading from Gabara [95] to Jerusalem and that the frontier between
Samaria and Judea was here. They were again roughly refused admission
at another house. When they were several hours north-east of Bethany,
it happened that Mary was greatly in need of rest and refreshment; so
Joseph turned off the road for about half an hour to a place where he
knew there was a beautiful fig tree, which as a rule was full of fruit.
This tree had benches round it for people to rest on. Joseph knew it
from a former journey. When, however, they got there, they found no
fruit at all on the tree, which distressed them very much. I have a dim
recollection that afterwards Jesus had something to do with this tree.
It never bore fruit any more, but was green, and I think that the Lord
cursed it as He passed by when escaping from Jerusalem and that it
withered away. [96] After this they came to a house where the man was
at first very harsh to Joseph when he humbly asked him for lodging. He
shone his light onto the Blessed Virgin's face and scoffed at Joseph
for taking so young a woman about with him; he was, he supposed,
jealous. The woman of the house then came up and took pity on the
Blessed Virgin, showing her a room in a side-building in a very
friendly way, and bringing little loaves of bread for them to eat. The
man, too, was sorry for his rudeness, and became very friendly towards
the holy travelers. After this they came to a third house. It was
inhabited by young people, but I saw an old man with a stick walking
about in it. Their reception here was tolerably good but not
particularly friendly. Nobody took much trouble about them. The people
here were not real simple shepherds; they were like rich peasants with
us who are more or less entangled in the world and in trade and so on.
Jesus visited one of these houses on October 20 ^th (the first day of
the month Tisri) after His Baptism, and found the resting-place of His
parents decorated and used as a praying-place. I am not sure whether it
was the one where the man had at first jeered at Joseph. I have a dim
remembrance that the people there had arranged it like this immediately
after the wonders accompanying His Birth. Towards the end of their road
Joseph made many halts, for the journey grew more and more difficult
for the Blessed Virgin. They followed the way taken by the she-ass, and
made a day and a half's detour eastwards of Jerusalem. Joseph's father
had owned pastureland round here, so he knew the country very well. If
they had traveled due south, across the desert behind Bethany, they
would probably have reached Bethlehem in six hours, but that way was
hilly and at that time of year very difficult; so the she-ass led them
through valleys which brought them nearer to the Jordan.
5.7 THEY STOP AT A SHEPHERD'S LARGE HOUSE.
[November 21 ^st:] Today I saw the holy travelers entering a big
shepherd's house while it was still full day. This must be about three
hours from John's baptizing place on the Jordan and about seven hours
from Bethlehem. It is the same house in which thirty years later Jesus
spent the night of October 11 ^th before the morning on which he passed
near the Baptist for the first time after His Baptism. Near the house,
and apart from it, was a shed in which were kept the agricultural
implements and the shepherd's things. In the court was a fountain with
baths round it, supplied with water from the fountain by pipes. The
master of the house must have owned much land; it was a large
establishment. I saw many menservants coming and going and having their
meals there. The master of the house received the travelers in a very
friendly way and was very ready to help. They were shown a comfortable
room, and their pack-donkey was well looked after. A manservant was
told to wash Joseph's feet at the fountain and to give him other
clothes while his own were cleaned from dust and smoothed out. A maid
did the same for the Blessed Virgin. They ate and slept here. The
mistress of the house was rather perverse in character. She lived in a
separate room and kept herself apart. She had surreptitiously examined
the travelers, and as she was young and vain she was vexed by the
beauty of the Blessed Virgin: she was also afraid that Mary might
appeal to her to let her stay and be confined there, so she kept away
in a hostile spirit and insisted that they should leave the next day.
(This is the same woman whom Jesus found there in this house, blind and
crippled, thirty years later on October 11 ^th, after His Baptism.
After reproaching her for her inhospitality and vanity, He healed her.)
There were also children in the house. The Holy Family spent the night
here.
5.8 A HOUSE OWNED BY JOSEPH'S RELATIVES. THEY STAY AT AN INN CONDUCTING A
FUNERAL.
[November 22 ^nd:] I saw the Holy Family leaving their place of shelter
about midday. Some of the inmates of the house accompanied them for
part of their way. After a short journey of about two hours westward
they came to a place where scattered houses, with gardens and
forecourts, stand in a long row on either side of a main road. Some
relations of Joseph's lived here. They were, as far as I remember, sons
by a second marriage of a stepfather or stepmother. I saw the house; it
had a good situation and was quite large. They went, however, right
through this place, and then turned right for half an hour, in the
direction of Jerusalem, until they reached a large inn, in the court of
which there was a big fountain with many pipes. A large company was
assembled here, attending a funeral. The interior of the house, in the
center of which was the fireplace and its chimney, had been made into
one large ball by the removal of the low wooden screens which at other
times divided it into separate rooms. Black curtains hung behind the
hearth, in front of which stood a veiled black object like a coffin. A
large assembly of men were praying round it. They wore long black
garments with short white ones over them, and some had black fringed
maniples hanging on one arm. In another room women completely veiled
were sitting on the floor in low boxes and mourning.
The owners of the inn themselves, who were busy with the funeral,
welcomed the travelers only from a distance. The servants of the house,
however, gave them a very friendly reception and showed them every
attention. A separate lodging was prepared for them by letting down
mats which had been rolled up to the ceiling, so that they were in a
kind of tent. There were many beds in this house rolled up against the
wall, and mats could be let down to make many separate cells.
Afterwards I saw the people of the house visiting the Holy Family and
conversing with them in a friendly manner. They no longer wore the
white garments over their black' ones. After Joseph and Mary had
refreshed themselves and taken a little food, they prayed together and
retired to rest.
5.9 THE LAST STRETCH OF ROAD TOWARDS BETHLEHEM. THE GOODWILL OF THE INN
OWNERS.
[November 23 ^rd:] Joseph and Mary left here for Bethlehem about
midday. They still had some three hours' journey before them. The
mistress of the house urged them to stay where they were, for, she
said, it seemed to her that Mary might be delivered at any moment.
Mary, however, dropping her veil, said that she had still thirty-six
hours before her. (I am not sure that she did not say thirty-eight.)
The woman was very anxious to keep her, not in the house itself, but in
another building. As they left, I saw Joseph talking to the innkeeper
about his donkeys. He spoke very highly of them, and said he had
brought the she-ass with him in order to pawn her in case of necessity.
When the people of the house spoke of the difficulty of finding lodging
in Bethlehem, Joseph said he had friends there and would certainly be
well received. (It makes me always so sorry when he talks so certainly
of being well received. He talked to Mary in that way, too, as they
went along. One sees by this that even such holy people can be
mistaken.)
6. THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY FAMILY IN BETHLEHEM.
The journey from the last inn to Bethlehem must have taken about three
hours. They made a circuit round the north side of Bethlehem and
approached the town from the west. They made a halt under a tree some
little way off the road. Mary alighted from the donkey and arranged her
clothing, after which Joseph went with her to a large building a few
minutes outside Bethlehem, surrounded by courtyards and other small
buildings. There were trees in front of it, and round about it were
crowds encamped in tents. This was the old ancestral house of David and
once Joseph's family home. Relations or acquaintances of Joseph's still
lived there, but they treated him as a stranger and as a person whom
they did not want to know. This house was now being used for the
receipt of the money from the Roman taxation. Joseph, leading the
donkey by the bridle, went at once to this house with the Blessed
Virgin, because every new arrival had to report himself here and was
given a paper, without which he could not be admitted into Bethlehem.
[After several pauses Catherine Emmerich spoke as follows in her
visionary state:] The young she-ass that runs free has not gone with
them here, she has run off round the outside of the town towards the
south, where it is flatter and there is a sort of open valley. Joseph
has gone into the house. Mary is with some women in a little house
beside the courtyard: they are very friendly to her and are giving her
some food. These women are cooking for the soldiers. They are Roman
soldiers, with strips of leather hanging round their loins. The weather
here is very pleasant and not at all cold. The hill between Jerusalem
and Bethany is in full sunshine; one has a fine view of it from here.
Joseph is in a big room with an uneven floor. They are asking him who
he is and are referring to long scrolls of which a great many are
hanging on the walls. They unroll them and read aloud to him his
ancestry and also Mary's: he did not seem to know that she also
descended so directly from David through Joachim; he himself descended
from an earlier offspring of David's. The man asks him: Where is your
wife?' Owing to many disorders the people of the country have not been
properly registered for seven years. [97] I see the figures V and II,
making seven [she forms this figure with her fingers]. This taxation
has been going on for several months. Some payments were made here and
there during those seven years, but nothing regular. The people were
made to pay twice over. Some of them stayed here for as long as three
months. Joseph came rather late to the tax office, but was treated in
quite a friendly way. He has not paid anything yet, but was asked about
his means, and stated that he had no land and lived by his handicraft
and from the assistance given him by his wife's mother.
There are a great number of scribes and high officials in many of the
rooms. On the upper floors are Romans and many soldiers. There are also
present Pharisees and Sadducees, priests, elders and every kind of
official and scribe, both Jewish and Roman. There is no such commission
in Jerusalem, but they are established in several other places, such as
Magdala on the sea of Galilee, where the inhabitants of Galilee are
taxed, and also those of Sidon, I think because of their commercial
dealings. Only the people who are not resident anywhere and have no
land on which they can be taxed have to present themselves at their
birthplace. From now on the tax has to be paid in three months in three
installments. Each of these three installments goes to a different
object. The first is shared by the Emperor Augustus, Herod, and another
king who lives near Egypt. He has rendered some service in war and has
a right to a district up in the north, so they have to apportion
something to him. The second installment has to do with the building of
the Temple; it seems as if it were used to pay off a debt. The third
installment is intended for widows and poor people, who have had
nothing for a long time, but of all this little reaches the right
people, just as happens today. The money is meant for nothing but good
causes, and yet remains in the hands of the great. All this business of
writing made a terrible fuss and commotion.
Joseph was now allowed to go, and when he got downstairs the Blessed
Virgin was called before the scribes in a passage, but they did not
read anything aloud to her. They told Joseph that it was unnecessary
for him to have brought his wife with him, and seemed to be bantering
him on account of her youth. Joseph was ashamed of this being said
before Mary; he was afraid she might think that he was not respected in
his birthplace.
7. SEEKING LODGING IN BETHLEHEM.
After this they went on into Bethlehem, the buildings of which were at
some distance from each other. The entrance was through ruined walls as
if the gate had been destroyed. Mary remained with the donkey at the
very entrance of the street while Joseph sought a lodging in the
nearest houses--in vain, for Bethlehem was full of strangers, all
running from place to place. Joseph returned to Mary, saying that as no
shelter was to be found there, they would go on farther into the town.
He led the donkey on by the bridle, and the Blessed Virgin walked
beside him. When they came to the beginning of another street, Mary
again stopped by the donkey, and Joseph again went from house to house
in vain seeking a lodging, and again came sadly back. This happened
several times, and the Blessed Virgin often had long to wait.
Everywhere the houses were filled with people, everywhere he was turned
away, so he said to Mary that they would go to another part of
Bethlehem where they would surely find lodging. They went a little way
back in the direction in which they had come and then turned
southwards. They went hesitatingly through the street, which was more
like a country road, for the houses were built on slopes. Here, too,
their search was fruitless. On the other side of Bethlehem, where the
houses lie farther apart, they came to a lower-lying open space, like a
field, where it was more solitary. There was a sort of shed here and,
not far from it, a great spreading tree, with shady branches like a big
lime-tree. The trunk was smooth and the spreading branches made a kind
of roof. Joseph led the Blessed Virgin to this tree, and made her a
comfortable seat against its trunk with their bundles, so that she
might rest while he sought for shelter in the houses near. The donkey
stood with its head turned towards the tree. At first Mary stood
upright, leaning against the tree. Her ample white woolen dress had no
girdle and hung round her in folds: her head was covered with a white
veil. Many people passed by and looked at her, not knowing that the
Redeemer was so near to them. She was so patient, so humble, so full of
hopeful expectation. Ah, she had to wait a long, long time; she sat
down at last on the rug, crossing her feet under her. She sat with her
head bent and her hands crossed below her breast.
Joseph came back to her in great distress; he had found no shelter. His
friends, of whom he had spoken to the Blessed Virgin, would hardly
recognize him. He was in tears and Mary comforted him. He went once
more from one house to another; but as he gave the approaching
confinement of his wife as his chief reason for his request, he met
with even more decided refusals. Although the place was solitary, the
passersby at last began to stand still and look curiously at the
Blessed Virgin from a distance, as one may well do if one sees somebody
waiting in the dusk for a long time. I think some of them even spoke to
her, asking her who she was. At last Joseph came back. He was so upset
that he came up hesitatingly. He said he had had no success, but he
knew of one place outside the town, belonging to the shepherds, who
often went there when coming with their flocks to the town. There they
would, in any case, find a shelter. He said that he knew the place from
childhood; when his brothers had tormented him, he had often escaped
there to hide from them and to say his prayers. Even if the shepherds
did come there, he would easily come to an understanding with them; but
at this time of year they were seldom there. As soon as he had settled
her there in peace and quiet, he would look round again for something
else. They then went outside Bethlehem to the east of the town by a
lonely footpath, going to the left. It was like a path along the ruined
walls, ditches, and banks of some little town. At first, the path
ascended slightly, and then, descended after crossing a hill. On the
east of the town, a few minutes outside it, they came to a hill or high
bank, in front of which was an open space made pleasant by several
trees. There were pine-trees (cedar or terebinth) and other trees with
small leaves like our box-trees. The place was such as one might find
right at the end of the old ramparts of some little town.
[In order to avoid continually interrupting the narrative, we will here
describe as fully as possible the surroundings of this hill and the
interior of the Cave of the Nativity according to the repeated accounts
given by Catherine Emmerich.]
8. DESCRIPTION OF THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.
[From the following description, we have constructed a floor plan of
the room of the Cave of the Nativity. Please refer to Figure 12.]
Among many other different grottoes or cave-dwellings there was, at the
south end of this hill, round which the road wound its way to the
Shepherd's Valley, the cave in which Joseph sought shelter for the
Blessed Virgin. From the west the entrance [Figure 12, part 1] led
eastwards into the hill through a narrow passage into a larger chamber,
half semicircular and half triangular. The walls of the cave were of
the natural rock, and only on the south side, which was encircled by
the road to the shepherd's valley, was it completed by a little rough
masonry. On this south side was another entrance [Figure 12, part 5]
into the cave, but this was generally blocked up, and Joseph had to
clear it before he could use it. If you came out of this entrance and
turned to the left, you came upon a wider entrance into a lower vault
[Figure 12, part 11], narrow and inconvenient, which stretched under
the Cave of the Nativity. From the ordinary entrance to the cave, which
faced westwards, one could see nothing but a few roofs and towers of
Bethlehem. If you turned to the right upon exiting this entrance, you
came to the entrance of a lower cave [Figure 12, part 12], which was
dark and was at one time the hiding-place of the Blessed Virgin. In
front of the main entrance, supported on posts, there was a light roof
of reeds [Figure12, part 13], extending round the south of the cave to
the entrance on that side, so that one could sit in front of the cave
in shade. On the south side there were, high up, three openings for
light and air, closed by gratings fixed in masonry. There was a similar
opening in the roof of the cave. This roof, which was covered with
turf, formed the extremity of the ridge on which Bethlehem stood.
Figure 12. The Cave of the Nativity.
1. Cave entrance. 2. Sectioned-off bedroom of Saint Joseph. 3. A side
cave. 4. Fireplace. 5. Southern side-entrance. 6. Location of the
donkey. 7. Fodder storage. 8. Birthplace of Our Redeemer Jesus. 9.
Where the three holy kings worshipped Jesus. 10. Location of the crib.
11. Entrance to an adjacent cave. 12. Another cave. 13. Reed roof on
posts.
From the west one came through a light wickerwork door into a
moderately broad passage opening into a chamber which was partly
angular and partly semicircular. Towards the south it broadened out
considerably, so that the ground-plan of the whole can be compared to a
head resting on its neck. As you came out of the neck of the cave,
whose roof was lower, into the higher part of the cave with its natural
vaulting, you stepped down to a lower level. The floor of the whole
cave was, however, higher at the sides, round which ran a low stone
bench of varying breadth. The walls of the cave, as nature had made
them, were, though not quite smooth, clean and pleasant and had
something attractive about them. I liked them better than the rough,
clumsy masonry which had been added on, for instance on the upper part
of the south wall of the entrance, where three openings for light and
air had been made. In the center of the roof of the cave there was
another opening, and, if I remember rightly, I saw besides this three
slanting holes piercing the upper part of the cave at intervals from
south to east. From the north side of the passage an entrance led into
a smaller side-cave [Figure 12, part 3]. Passing this entrance you came
upon the place where Joseph lit his fire [Figure 12, part 4]. After
that the wall turned northeast into the higher and bigger cave, and it
was here that Joseph's pack-donkey stood [Figure 12, part 6], by the
broad part of the stone bench which ran round its walls. Behind this,
in the thickness of the rock wall to the north, was a small chamber
[Figure 12, part 7] just big enough to hold the donkey and containing
fodder. The wall of the cave then turned south-east, encircling the
chamber (which grew broader towards the south) and finally turned north
to end at the main entrance.
The Blessed Virgin was in the eastern part of this cave [Figure 12,
part 8], exactly opposite the entrance, when she gave birth to the
Light of the World. The crib [Figure 12, part 10] in which the child
Jesus was laid stood on the west side of the southern and more roomy
part of the cave. This crib was a hollowed-out stone trough lying on
the ground and used for cattle to drink from. Over it stood a longish,
rectangular manger or rack, narrower below, and broader above, made of
wooden lattice-work, and raised on four feet, so that the beasts could
comfortably eat the hay or grass in the rack and lower their heads to
drink the water in the trough beneath. When the three holy kings
presented their gifts, the Blessed Virgin was sitting with the child
Jesus opposite the crib on the eastern side of this part of the cave
[Figure 12, part 9]. From the place where the crib is, if you go out of
the cave in a westerly direction into the so-called neck of the cave,
you come first of all, following the southern wall, to the southern
entrance mentioned above and later opened by Joseph, and then arrive at
St. Joseph's own room [Figure 12, part 2], which he later partitioned
off on the south side by wicker screens in this passage. On this side
there was a hollow in the wall where he put away all kinds of things.
The road to the Shepherds' Valley ran past the south side of the cave.
Here and there were little houses standing on hills, and scattered
about in the fields were sheds thatched with reeds on four, six, or
eight posts, with wicker walls. Towards the east of the cave the ground
fell into a closed valley shut off on the north side and about a
quarter of an hour's journey wide. Its slopes were covered with bushes,
trees, and gardens. If one walked through the tall luxuriant grass in
the meadow, watered by a spring, and through the trees planted in rows,
one came to the eastern ridge of this valley. By following this very
pleasant path in a south-easterly direction from the Cave of the
Nativity, one came to a projecting spur of the ridge containing the
rock-tomb of Maraha, [98] the nurse of Abraham, which was called the
Milk Cave or the Sucklings' Cave. The Blessed Virgin came here several
times with the child Jesus. Above this cave was a great tree with seats
in it, and from here one had a much better view of Bethlehem than from
the Cave of the Nativity.
I was told much that had happened in the Cave of the Nativity of
symbolical and prophetical significance in Old Testament times, but can
only remember that Seth, the child of promise, was here conceived and
born by Eve after a seven years' penance. She was told here by an angel
that this seed was given by God in place of Abel. Seth was hidden and
suckled by his mother in this cave and in Maraha's cave, for his
brothers were hostile to him just as Jacob's sons were to Joseph. In
these caves, inhabited by men in earlier times, I have often seen
places hollowed out by them in the rock in which they and their
children could sleep in comfort on skins or grass. So perhaps the
hollow in the stone bench beneath the crib may have been a sleeping
place of Seth's or of a later inmate. But I cannot say this for certain
now.
I also remember from my visions of the ministry of Jesus that the Lord,
on October 6 ^th, after His Baptism, was keeping the Sabbath in the
Cave of the Nativity, which had been made into a place of prayer by the
shepherds, and that He told the shepherds that His Heavenly Father had
appointed this as the place of His Birth as soon as Mary had conceived.
9. THE BURIAL CAVE OF MARAHA, ABRAHAM'S NURSE, ALSO CALLED THE CAVE OF THE
SUCKLINGS.
Abraham had a nurse, Maraha, whom he greatly revered; she lived to a
great age and he always took her on his journeys, riding on a camel.
She lived with him for a long time in Succoth. Afterwards, towards the
end of her life, she was here in the Shepherds' Valley, where he had
his tents near to this cave. When she was more than a hundred years old
and her death was at hand, she asked Abraham to bury her in this cave,
prophesying about it and naming it the Cave of Milk or the Cave of the
Sucklings. Some miracle, which I have forgotten, happened here, and a
spring of water burst forth. The cave was then a high narrow passage of
a white and not very hard substance. A mound of this blocked up part of
the passage but did not reach to the roof. If one climbed over this
mound, one came to the entrances of other caves higher up. There were
also several deep passages running into the hill under the cave. Later
it was enlarged. Abraham made Maraha's tomb out of the mound lying in
the passage. Below was a massive block of stone on which rested a kind
of heavy stone trough on short thick feet. The trough had a jagged top.
One could see between the trough and the block under it. I was
surprised to see nothing of it at the time of Jesus' Birth.
This cave with the nurse's tomb was symbolically prophetic of the
Mother of the Savior giving suck to her child while pursued by enemies;
for in Abraham's youth a symbolically prophetic persecution took place,
and his nurse saved his life by hiding him in a cave. As far as I can
remember, the king in Abraham's country had a dream or was told by
prophecy about a child to be born who would become a danger to him. The
king took measures to prevent this. Abraham's mother concealed her
pregnancy and gave birth to him in secret in a cave. Maraha, the nurse,
suckled him in secret. She lived as though she were a poor slave, and
worked in a wilderness near the cave in which she suckled the child
Abraham. Afterwards his parents took him back, and on account of his
being unusually big he was thought to have been born before that
prophecy. However, when he was a boy, he was again in danger as the
result of some supernatural utterances, and the nurse again saved him
by hiding him away. I saw her carrying him off in secret, tied to her
waist under her big cloak. Many children of his size were murdered at
that time.
This cave had been a place of devotion since Abraham's time,
particularly for mothers and their babies. This was prophetic, for the
reverence paid to Abraham's nurse was symbolic of that paid to the
Blessed Virgin. In the same way Elijah had seen the Blessed Virgin in
the rain-bearing cloud, and had made a place of prayer in her honor on
Mount Carmel [see p. 28 ]. Maraha had contributed to the coming of the
Messiah by nourishing with her milk the ancestor of the Blessed Virgin.
I cannot, alas, explain it rightly, but it was like a deep spring of
water running through the whole of life and always being replenished,
until there burst forth from it the clear stream of Our Blessed Lady.
[This was the expression used by Catherine Emmerich in her state of
ecstatic sleep.]
The tree which stood beside this cave was like a great lime-tree, with
big shady branches. It was a terebinth, pointed at the top and broad
below. It had white seeds, which were oily and could be eaten. Abraham
met Melchizedek under this tree, but I cannot remember on what
occasion. Joseph enlarged the cave still more and closed the passages
leading downwards from it. The tree stands on a hill; beneath it is a
door, set at a slant, leading into a passage or kind of vestibule where
another door, set straight, opens into the tomb-cave itself. The latter
is round rather than square. The shepherds often used the passage to
shelter in. This big old tree cast a wide shadow. It was regarded as
sacred by the shepherds and others in the neighborhood, and also by
devout travelers. It was the custom to rest and pray there. I do not
remember the history of the tree, but it had some connection with
Abraham: he may perhaps have planted it. Near it was a fireplace which
could be covered over, and there was also a spring in front of the
tree, from which the shepherds used at certain times to draw water
supposed to have a special healing property. On each side of the tree
there were open huts to sleep in. It was all surrounded by a fence.
[While Catherine Emmerich was recounting this, she was in great pain;
and when the writer said to her, So this was a terebinth tree?' she
answered in sudden absence of mind: Tenebrae, not Terebinth, under the
shadow of Your Wings, that is a wing--Tenebrae--under Your Shadow will
I rejoice.' The writer did not understand the significance of these
words. Perhaps she was applying the words of the Psalm to the tree. She
spoke with great intensity of feeling and seemed to be comforting
herself with these words.]
St. Helena built a church here and Mass has been said here: I think it
seemed to be in a chapel dedicated to St. Nicholas.
10. THE HOLY FAMILY MOVES INTO THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY.
[November 23 ^rd:] The sun was already low when they reached the
entrance of the cave. The young she-ass, which had left them at
Joseph's ancestral house to run round the outside of the town, met them
as soon as they arrived here and gamboled joyfully round them. Look,'
said the Blessed Virgin to Joseph, it is certainly the will of God that
we should go in here.' Joseph was, however, very distressed and
secretly ashamed at having spoken so often of their good reception in
Bethlehem. He put the pack-donkey under the shelter by the entrance of
the cave and prepared a place for the Blessed Virgin to rest there
while he kindled a light, opened the wickerwork door of the cave, and
went into it. The passage into the cave was narrow, for it was full of
bundles of straw like rushes, stacked against the walls with brown mats
hanging over them. Behind, the cave itself was encumbered with a
quantity of things. Joseph cleared out as much as was necessary to make
a comfortable resting-place for the Blessed Virgin at the eastern end
of the cave. Then he fastened a burning lamp in the wall of the dark
cave and led the Blessed Virgin in. She sat down on the couch of rugs
and bundles which he had prepared. He apologized most humbly for the
poorness of the shelter, but Mary was joyful and contented in her
inmost spirit. As she rested there, Joseph hurried with a skin which he
had brought with him into the valley-meadow behind the hill, where
there was a tiny brook. He fastened the skin with two pegs under the
spring so that the water had to run into it, and then brought it back
to the cave. Then he went to the town and fetched little bowls, some
fruit, and bundles of twigs. The Sabbath was approaching, and because
of the many strangers in the town, who were in urgent need of all kinds
of things, tables had been set up at the street corners where
indispensable necessities could be bought at reduced prices. Those who
sold were menservants or people who were not Jews. I cannot quite
remember about this. Joseph came back bringing burning coals in a sort
of closed metal basket with a handle like a stalk under it. He emptied
these out by the entrance to the cave on the northern side and made a
little fire. He had the fire-basket and other small utensils with him
on the journey. The bundle of wood was of thin sticks neatly tied
together with broad rushes. Joseph then prepared a meal: it consisted
of a kind of porridge made from yellow grains and a cooked fruit,
thick, and when opened for eating, full of seeds. There were also
little flat loaves of bread. After they had eaten and prayed, Joseph
prepared a sleeping place for the Blessed Virgin. He first made a
mattress of rushes, and then spread on it a coverlet of the kind I have
described as having been prepared in Anna's house. At the head he put a
rolled-up rug. After bringing in the pack-donkey and tying him up out
of the way, he closed the openings in the roof to keep out the draught,
and then prepared his own sleeping place in the entrance. As the
Sabbath had now begun, he stood with the Blessed Virgin under the lamp,
reciting the Sabbath prayers with her, after which they ate their
little meal in a spirit of great piety. Joseph then left the cave and
went into the town, while Mary wrapped herself up to lie down to rest.
During Joseph's absence I saw for the first time the Blessed Virgin
kneeling in prayer. She knelt on her couch, and then lay down on the
coverlet on her side. Her head rested on her arm, which lay on the
pillow. Joseph did not come back till late. He was distressed and I
think he wept. He prayed and then lay down meekly on his couch at the
entrance of the cave.
11. MARY CONCLUDES THE SABBATH IN THE BURIAL CAVE OF MARAHA.
[Sunday, November 24 ^th: Catherine Emmerich was very ill today and
could communicate only the little that follows:]
The Blessed Virgin spent the Sabbath in the Cave of the Nativity in
prayer and meditation and in great spiritual fervor. Joseph went out
several times, probably to the synagogue in Bethlehem. I saw them
sharing the food which had been prepared the day before, and praying
together. In the afternoon of the Sabbath, when it is the Jewish custom
to go for a walk, Joseph took the Blessed Virgin through the valley
behind the cave to the tomb of Maraha, Abraham's nurse. They spent some
time in this cave, which was roomier than the Cave of the Nativity, and
in which Joseph had prepared a place for the Blessed Virgin to sit. The
rest of the time they spent under the sacred tree near it, in prayer
and meditation, until some time after the close of the Sabbath, when
Joseph took her back again.
Mary had told St. Joseph that tonight at midnight would be the hour of
the child's birth, for then the nine months since the Annunciation
would have been completed. She begged him to do all that was possible
on his part so that they might show as much honor as they could to the
child promised by God and supernaturally conceived. She asked him, too,
to join with her in praying for the hard-hearted people who had refused
to give them shelter. Joseph suggested to the Blessed Virgin that he
should summon to her assistance some pious women whom he knew in
Bethlehem. She declined, however, saying that she needed no human help.
Just before the close of the Sabbath Joseph went into Bethlehem, and as
soon as the sun had set, he quickly bought a few necessary things--a
stool, a little low table, a few little bowls, and some dried fruit and
grapes. With them he hurried back to the cave and then to the tomb of
Maraha, and took the Blessed Virgin back to the Cave of the Nativity,
where she lay down on her couch in the easternmost corner. Joseph
prepared some more food, and they ate and prayed together. He then
completely divided off his sleeping place from the rest of the cave by
surrounding it with posts and hanging on them mats which he had found
in the cave. He fed the donkey, which was standing to the left of the
entrance against the wall of the cave; then he filled the manger above
the crib with rushes and fine grass or moss, and spread a covering over
it which hung down over the edge.
On the Blessed Virgin telling him that her time was drawing near and
that he was to retire into his room and pray, he hung up some more
burning lamps in the cave and went out, as he had heard a noise
outside. Here he found the young she-ass, who until now had been
wandering about loose in the valley of the shepherds. She came joyfully
running up and gamboled round him. He tied her up under the shelter
before the cave and strewed fodder before her.
When Joseph came back into the cave and stood at the entrance to his
sleeping place looking towards the Blessed Virgin, he saw her with her
face turned towards the east, kneeling on the bed facing away from him.
He saw her as it were surrounded by flames, the whole cave was as if
filled with supernatural light. He gazed at her like Moses when he saw
the burning bush; then he went into his little cell in holy awe and
threw himself on his face in prayer.
__________________________________________________________________
[90] This chapter represents the journey of Mary and Joseph to
Bethlehem for the enrolment: Luke 2.5-6. (SB)
[91] AC several times explains that Joseph only lived a short time at
Nazareth in the house provided by Anna, and did not at first intend to
remain there. This intention throws light on Matt. 2.23, from which it
would appear that he deliberately chose Nazareth as a dwelling-place on
his return from Egypt, the alternative being the plan (explained by AC)
of settling at Bethlehem, his birthplace. This plan he deliberately
rejected, since Bethlehem was in Judea and he was afraid to go there' (
Matt. 2.22) because of Archelaus. (SB)
[92] The Field of Chimki is identified by AC (infra, p. 79 ) with
Ginim; see next note. (SB)
[93] The Field of Ginim, six hours from Nazareth, is presumably
Engannim or Ginaea, the modern Jenin, eighteen miles south of Nazareth,
near the corner of the Plain of Esdrelon. Engannim is mentioned in Jos.
15.34 and 19.19 and is probably to be identified with Beth-haggan
(Douay the garden house') of IV Kings 9.27. Cf. Cath. Comm., 275i. (SB)
[94] This would refer to the foothills to the west of Mount Gilboa.
(SB)
[95] Gabara is in Galilee, north of Nazareth. (SB)
[96] Catherine Emmerich was so exceedingly ill from Nov. 19th to 21st
that when she recounted these events on Nov. 22nd she could not give
the exact situation of this tree, but could only say that it was
somewhere near the path of the Holy Family. It is in any case not the
cursed fig tree mentioned in the Gospels. (CB) The barren fig tree of
Matt. 21.19 and Mark 11.13 stood between Bethany and Jerusalem. (SB)
[97] The question of the successive registrations in the Roman Province
of Syria is very intricate, together with the identification of the one
in the year of Christ's birth; but there is evidence for censuses in
Egypt and Gaul earlier in the reign of Augustus (cf. Cath. Comm.,
749a). AC's reference (infra, p. 83 ) to the sharing of the revenue of
the taxation remains entirely obscure. (SB)
[98] Maraha, Abraham's nurse, is not known in any available document.
(SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XI. CHRIST'S BIRTH [99]
I saw the radiance round the Blessed Virgin ever growing greater. The
light of the lamps which Joseph had lit was no longer visible. The
Blessed Virgin knelt on her rug in an ample ungirt robe spread out
round her, her face turned towards the east.
At midnight she was rapt in an ecstasy of prayer. I saw her lifted from
the earth, so that I saw the ground beneath her. Her hands were crossed
on her breast. The radiance about her increased; everything, even
things without life, were in a joyful inner motion, the stones of the
roof, of the walls, and of the floor of the cave became as it were
alive in the light. Then I no longer saw the roof of the cave; a
pathway of light opened above Mary, rising with ever-increasing glory
towards the height of heaven.
In this pathway of light there was a wonderful movement of glories
interpenetrating each other, and, as they approached, appearing more
clearly in the form of choirs of heavenly spirits. Meanwhile the
Blessed Virgin, borne up in ecstasy, was now gazing downwards, adoring
her God, whose Mother she had become and who lay on the earth before
her in the form of a helpless newborn child. [100]
I saw our Redeemer as a tiny child, shining with a light that
overpowered all the surrounding radiance, and lying on the carpet at
the Blessed Virgin's knees. It seemed to me as if He were at first
quite small and then grew before my eyes. But the movement of the
intense radiance was such that I cannot say for certain how I saw it.
The Blessed Virgin remained for some time rapt in ecstasy. I saw her
laying a cloth over the Child, but at first she did not touch Him or
take Him up. After some time I saw the Child Jesus move and heard Him
cry. Then Mary seemed to come to herself, and she took the Child up
from the carpet, wrapping Him in the cloth which covered Him, and held
Him in her arms to her breast. She sat there enveloping herself and the
Child completely in her veil, and I think Mary suckled the Redeemer. I
saw angels round her in human forms, lying on their faces and adoring
the Child.
It might have been an hour after His Birth when Mary called St. Joseph,
who was still lying in prayer. When he came near, he threw himself down
on his face in devout joy and humility. It was only when Mary begged
him to take to his heart, in joy and thankfulness, the holy present of
the Most High God, that he stood up, took the Child Jesus in his arms,
and praised God with tears of joy.
The Blessed Virgin then wrapped the Child Jesus in swaddling-bands. I
cannot now remember how these bands were wound round; I only know that
the Child was wrapped to His armpits first in red and then white bands,
and that His head and shoulders were wrapped in another little cloth.
Mary had only four sets of swaddling-bands with her. Then I saw Mary
and Joseph sitting side by side on the bare earth with their feet under
them. They did not speak, and seemed both to be sunk in meditation. On
the carpet before Mary lay the newborn Jesus in swaddling clothes, a
little Child, beautiful and radiant as lightning. Ah, I thought, this
place enshrines the salvation of the whole world, and no one guesses
it. Then they laid the Child in the manger, which was filled with
rushes and delicate plants and covered with a cloth hanging over the
sides. It stood above the stone trough lying on the ground, to the
right of the entrance, where the cave makes a big curve towards the
south. This part of the cave was at a lower level than the place where
Our Lord was born: the floor slanted downwards in a step-like
formation. After laying the Child in the crib, they both stood beside
Him giving praise to God with tears of joy. Joseph then arranged the
Blessed Virgin's resting-place and her seat beside the Crib. [See
Figure 13.] Both before and after the Birth of Jesus, I saw her dressed
in white and veiled. I saw her there in the first days after the
Nativity, sitting, kneeling, standing, and sleeping on her side,
wrapped up but in no way ill or exhausted. When people came to see her,
she wrapped herself up more closely and sat upright on her lying-in
coverlet.
Figure 13. Mary's resting place beside the crib.
1. GREAT JOY IN NATURE. "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST".
In these pictures of Christ's Birth, which I see as an historical event
and not as a Feast of the Church, I do not see such radiant and
ecstatic joy in nature as I do on Christmas night when the vision that
I see expresses an interior significance. Yet I saw in this vision an
unwonted joy and an extraordinary movement at midnight in many places
even to the uttermost parts of the earth. I saw the hearts of many good
men filled with joyful yearning, while all the wicked were overcome by
great fear. I saw many animals filled with joy; in some places I saw
flowers, herbs, and shrubs shooting up, and trees drinking in
refreshment and scattering sweet scents. I saw many springs of water
gush forth and increase. In the night of the Savior's Birth, an
abundant spring welled up in the cave in the hill to the north of the
Cave of the Nativity. Next day St. Joseph captured it and made an
outlet for it. The sky was dull over Bethlehem and had a dull reddish
glow; but over the Cave of the Nativity and over the valley by Martha's
tomb and the Shepherd's Valley lay a shining mist of dew. In the
Shepherd's Valley there was a hill about an hour and a half's journey
from the Cave of the Nativity, where the vineyards begin which stretch
from there towards Gaza. On this hill were the huts of three shepherds
who were the rulers of the shepherds' families in this region just as
the three holy kings were rulers of the tribes belonging to them. About
twice as far away from the Cave of the Nativity as this hill was the
so-called Shepherds' Tower. [Please refer to Figure 14]. This was a
very high pyramid-shaped erection of wooden beams, built among green
trees on a base of big stones on a hill in the midst of the fields. It
was surrounded by stairs and galleries, and in places there were little
covered stands like watchtowers. It was all hung with mats. It
resembled those tower-like edifices which were used in the land of the
three holy kings to observe the stars at night; from the distance it
looked like a tall many-masted ship under sail. One had from it a very
wide view of the whole region; one saw Jerusalem, and also the Mount of
Temptation in the desert of Jericho. The shepherds stationed men up
there to watch the flocks as they moved about and to give warning of
danger by blowing horns if they saw in the distance robbers or armed
bands. The families of the various shepherds lived round the tower
within a circle of some five hours in circumference; their farms were
separate and surrounded by fields and gardens. The tower was their
general meeting-place, as it was also for the watchers, who kept their
belongings here and got their food from here. There were huts built on
the slopes of the hill on which the tower stood, and separate from
these there was a large shed, divided into many partitions, where the
wives of the watchers lived and prepared food for them. Here by the
tower I saw tonight some of the flocks and herds out in the open, but
by the hill of the three shepherds I saw them in a shed. When Jesus was
born, I saw the three shepherds standing together before their hut,
marveling at the wonderful night. They looked about them, and were
astonished to see a wonderful radiance over the place where the Cave of
the Nativity was. I also saw the shepherds at the more distant tower in
great commotion. I saw some of them climbing the tower and gazing at
the strange radiance over the cave. As the three shepherds thus gazed
up into the sky, I saw a cloud of light sinking down towards them. As
it drew near, I perceived a movement in it, a changing and
transformation into figures and forms, and I heard a song which
gradually grew louder. It was sweet and gentle and yet clear and
joyful. The shepherds were at first afraid, but forthwith an angel
stood before them and spoke to them: Fear not,' he said, for behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy that shall be to all the people;
for this day is born to you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, in the
city of David. And this shall be a sign to you. You shall find the
infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.' While the
angel was announcing this, the radiance round him increased, and I now
saw five or seven beautiful great shining forms of angels standing
before the shepherds. They were holding in their hands a long scroll on
which was written something in letters as big as one's hand, and I
heard them praising God and singing Glory be to God in the highest: and
on earth peace to men of goodwill'. The shepherds at the tower saw the
same vision, but somewhat later. The angels also appeared to a third
party of shepherds near a spring three hours from Bethlehem and to the
east of the shepherd's tower. I did not see the shepherds hasten at
once to the Cave of the Nativity, which was about an hour and a half
distant from the three shepherds and twice as far from the tower. But,
I saw them at once consulting together as to what they should bring as
a present to the newborn Child and getting their gifts together with
all speed. They did not arrive at the Crib until early in the morning.
Figure 14. The Shepherds' Tower.
2. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
At the time that the Child Jesus was born my soul made countless
journeys to all parts of the world, to see the wonderful happenings at
the birth of Our Savior. As, however, I was very ill and tired, it
often seemed to me as if the pictures came to me instead of I to them.
I have seen countless events, but have forgotten most of them because
of much suffering and many disturbances; all that I can remember are
the following fragments.
3. REVELATIONS OF THE BIRTH TO THE KINSWOMEN AND FRIENDS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN.
I saw last night that Noemi, the teacher of the Blessed Virgin, and the
prophetess Anna, and the aged Simeon in the Temple, and the Blessed
Virgin's mother, Anna, in Nazareth, and Elizabeth in Juttah, all had
visions and revelations about the birth of the Savior. I saw the child
John, in Elizabeth's house, moved by wonderful joy. Though they all saw
and recognized Mary in these visions, they did not know where the
miracle had taken place, not even Elizabeth. Anna alone knew that
Bethlehem was the place of salvation.
4. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN JERUSALEM.
Last night I saw a wonderful happening in the Temple. All the written
scrolls of the Sadducees were several times hurled out of their shelves
and strewn about the floor. This caused great alarm; they ascribed it
to sorcery and paid much money to keep it secret.
[She here recounted some obscure story about two sons of Herod's who
were Sadducees and had been placed in the Temple by him [101] ; and how
he was always engaged in some dispute or other with the Pharisees and
was always trying by underhand means to obtain more power in the
Temple.]
5. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN ROME.
I saw much in Rome last night, but of all the pictures I saw I have
forgotten many and may easily have confused some of them. I will tell
them as I remember them.
When Jesus was born, I saw that in Rome, on the other side of the
river, where many Jews lived [she here described not very clearly a
place like a hill surrounded by water, forming a kind of peninsula], a
spring as of oil burst forth and caused general astonishment. A
magnificent idol of Jupiter also broke in pieces in a temple of which
the whole roof fell in. They made sacrifices in great alarm, and asked
another idol--of Venus, I think--what this signified, and received the
answer (which must have been spoken by the devil out of the mouth of
the idol): This befell because a virgin without a husband conceived a
son and has now given birth to him.' This idol spoke also of the
fountain of oil that had sprung forth. Where it sprang forth, there now
stands a church dedicated to the Mother of God. [102]
I saw the heathen priests consulting their records in great alarm.
Seventy years before, when that idol was being magnificently adorned
with gold and precious stones, and was being honored with solemn
sacrifices, there lived in Rome a very good and pious woman (I am not
sure whether she was a Jewess or not) whose name sounded like Serena or
Cyrena. She had enough money to live on, saw visions, and was impelled
to prophesy. I have forgotten a great deal about her, but I think she
used often to tell people the cause of their unfruitfulness. This woman
had openly proclaimed that such costly honors should not be paid to the
idol, for one day it would burst asunder. The priests called her to
account because of this declaration, and demanded that she should say
when this would happen; and as she could not at once reply, she was
imprisoned and tortured until she obtained by her prayers to God the
reply that the idol would break in pieces when a pure virgin should
bear a son. This announcement was received with derision, and she was
released as being out of her senses. Now, when the collapse of the
temple did indeed shatter the idol, they recognized that she had
prophesied truly, and were astonished at her having fixed a time for
this event. They knew of course nothing of Christ having been born of
the Blessed Virgin.
I saw that both the Roman consuls called for reports about this event
and about the appearance of the fountain of oil. One of the consuls was
called Lentulus and was an ancestor of the martyred priest Moses and of
the Lentulus who was a friend of St. Peter in Rome.
I also saw something connected with the Emperor Augustus, but can no
longer remember it distinctly. I saw the Emperor with some other men on
a hill in Rome, on the other side of which was the temple that had
fallen in. There were steps leading up the hill, which had a golden
gate on it. Business matters were settled there. When the Emperor
descended the hill, he saw on the right-hand side, over the top of the
hill, an apparition in the sky. [Please refer to Figure 15.] It was a
vision of a virgin above a rainbow, and a child was soaring up from
her. I think that only he saw it. He asked for an explanation of this
apparition from an oracle that had long been dumb, and it gave an
answer about a newborn child before whom all must give way. Thereupon
he caused an altar to be set up on the hill over which he had seen the
appearance, and dedicated it with many sacrifices to the Firstborn of
God. I have forgotten much of all this.
6. OCCURRENCES DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST IN EGYPT.
I saw also in Egypt an event which proclaimed the birth of Christ. Far
away in the country beyond Matarea, Heliopolis, and Memphis a great
idol, which until then had uttered oracles of many kinds, fell suddenly
silent. The king then ordered that great sacrifices should be offered
throughout the country in order that the idol might explain its
silence. The idol was thereupon obliged by God to say that it was
silent and must give way because a virgin had given birth to a son, to
whom a temple would here be erected. On hearing this, the king of that
country decided to build a temple in his honor near the temple of the
idol. I cannot clearly remember what happened, but I know that the idol
was taken away and a temple was built here in honor of the virgin with
the Child whom it had proclaimed, and that she was there honored after
their heathen fashion.
7. VISIONS APPEAR DURING THE BIRTH OF CHRIST TO THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
At the hour when the Child Jesus was born I saw a wonderful vision
which appeared to the three holy kings. These kings were
star-worshippers and had a tower shaped like a pyramid with steps. It
was made partly of timber and was on the top of a hill; one of them was
always there, with several priests, to observe the stars. They always
wrote down what they saw and communicated it to each other. On this
night I think I saw two of the kings on this tower. The third, who
lived to the east of the Caspian Sea, was not with them. They always
observed one particular star, in which they saw various changes; they
also saw visions in the sky. Last night I saw the picture which
appeared to them; there were several variations of it. They did not see
it in one star, but in a figure composed of several stars, and these
stars were in motion. They saw a beautiful rainbow over the moon, which
was in one of its quarters. Upon the rainbow a Virgin was enthroned;
her right foot was resting on the moon. To the left of the Virgin, on
the rainbow, was a vine, and on the right a sheaf of wheat. In front of
the Virgin I saw the form of a chalice, shaped like the one used by Our
Lord at the institution of the Blessed Sacrament. It seemed to rise up
or to issue more clearly out of the radiance surrounding it. I saw a
little child coming forth out of this chalice, and above the child a
transparent disc, like an empty monstrance, from which rays like ears
of wheat proceeded. It made me think of the Blessed Sacrament. On the
right-hand side of the child issuing from the chalice, a branch grew
forth on which an octagonal church blossomed like a flower. It had a
great golden gate and two small side-doors. The Virgin moved the
chalice, the child, and the host with her right hand, guiding them into
the church before her. I saw into it, and as I did so it seemed to
become quite big. I saw an appearance of the Holy Trinity in the back
of the church. The tower of the church rose above this appearance,
which at last turned into a city radiant with light, like the heavenly
Jerusalem. In this picture I saw many things developing out of each
other as I looked into this church; but I can no longer remember in
what order I saw them, nor can I recollect in what manner the kings
were informed that the child had been born in Judea. The third king who
lived farther away saw the same picture in his own home in the same
hour. The kings were filled with inexpressible joy at this vision, and
immediately gathered together their treasures and presents and began
their journey. It was only after several days that all three met.
Already in the days just before the birth of Christ I noticed that they
were in a state of great activity on their observatory tower and saw
visions of many kinds.
Figure 15. Vision of the Emperor Augustus on the day of Jesus' birth.
How great was God's compassion towards the heathen! Shall I tell you
from whence this prophecy came to the kings? I will recount now only
just the end of it, for at this moment I cannot remember the whole. The
ancestors of the three kings, from whom they descended in an unbroken
line from father to son, lived as long ago as five hundred years before
Christ's birth. (Elijah [103] must have lived eight hundred years
before Christ.) Their ancestors were richer and more powerful than the
three kings, for their possessions and inheritances had not been so
much divided up as later on. Even in those times they lived in cities
of tents--except the ancestor to the east of the Caspian Sea, whose
city I now see; its foundations are of stone and the tents are set up
on these, for it lies beside the sea, which often overflows. (Here on
the mountains one is so high up; I see a sea to my right and one to my
left; it is like looking into a black hole.) These chieftains were
already at that time star-worshippers; but besides that they practiced
dreadfully evil ceremonies; they sacrificed old men and cripples and
slaughtered children as well. The most cruel of all their practices was
to put the children, dressed in white, into cauldrons, and to boil them
alive. But at last all this was changed for the better, and in spite of
it God allowed these blind heathens to know of the birth of the
Redeemer so long beforehand. In those days three daughters of these
early chieftains were living at the same time. They were learned in the
science of the stars, and all received at the same time the spirit of
prophecy.
They all three saw at the same time in a vision that a star should rise
out of Jacob and that a virgin should give birth to the Savior without
knowing man. They wore long cloaks, and went about the whole country
preaching amendment of life and announcing that the messengers of the
Redeemer would one day come to them and bring them the ceremonies of
the true religion. They also prophesied many things about our own and
even later times. The fathers of these three virgins then built a
temple in honor of the future Mother of God to the south of the sea,
where their three countries met, and made sacrifices to her--some of
them in that cruel manner of which I have spoken. The prophecies of the
three virgins included something definite about a picture in the stars
and various transformations in it: whereupon they began to look for
this picture from a hill near the temple to the future Mother of God.
They took note of everything and according to what they observed they
kept on making various alterations on and in their temples, in their
ceremonies and in their decorations. They varied the color of the
tent-roof of the temple, which was sometimes blue, sometimes red, and
sometimes yellow or still another color. They transferred (and this
seemed to me remarkable) their weekly feast day to the Sabbath. Before
it used to be Thursday, and I still remember its name. [Here she
stammered something which sounded like Tanna or Tanada, but was not
clearly audible.] [104]
8. VISION FRAGMENTS WHICH DETERMINE THE EXACT DATE OF THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.
[In the course of her visions of Christmas night Catherine Emmerich saw
much that indicated the exact date of Christ's birth, but she forgot a
great deal of it owing to illness and the disturbance of receiving
visitors on the following day, which was her name-day, the feast of St.
Catherine. That evening, however, shortly after these visits, she
repeatedly gave utterance, in a state of trance, to the following
fragments of these visions. It should be noted that she sees all dates
written in Roman figures, i.e. with letters; and finds some difficulty
in reading them; though she nearly always makes herself clear by
repeating them several times in the order in which they appear or by
showing them on her fingers. Today she did both. This is what she
said:]
Now, you can read this: look, there it is: Christ was born when the
year of the world 3997 was not yet quite completed. Afterwards people
forgot the period of three years and a portion of a year which
intervened between His birth and the year 4000, and then reckoned our
new era as beginning four years later, so that Christ was born seven
years and a portion of a year earlier than according to our reckoning.
[105] One of the consuls in Rome at that time was called Lentulus; he
was an ancestor of the priest and martyr Moses, of whom I possess a
relic here, and who lived at the time of St. Cyprian. The Lentulus who
was a friend of St. Peter in Rome also descended from him. Christ was
born in the forty-fifth year of the Emperor Augustus. Herod reigned
forty years in all until his death. [106] He was, it is true, only a
vassal-king for seven years, but harassed the country grievously, and
committed many cruelties. He died about the time of Christ's sixth
year. I think that his death was kept a secret for some time. His end
was dreadful, and in the last days of his life he was responsible for
many murders and much misery. I saw him crawling about in a room padded
with cushions. He had a spear, and stabbed at anyone who came near him.
Jesus must have been born about the thirty-fourth year of Herod's
reign. Two years before the entry of Mary into the Temple, just
seventeen years before the Birth of Christ, Herod ordered that work
should be done in the Temple. [107] It was not a rebuilding of the
Temple, but alterations and embellishments were made here and there.
The Flight into Egypt took place when Christ was nine months old, and
the Massacre of the Innocents was in His second year.
[She mentioned, in addition, many other things--incidents, features,
and journeys--from Herod's life, which showed how clearly she saw
everything, but it was impossible to collect and arrange these very
numerous communications, some of which she recounted only in
fragments.]
The Birth of Christ occurred in a year which the Jews reckoned as
having thirteen months. This must have been some such arrangement as
our leap-years. [108] I think I have forgotten something about the Jews
having months of twenty-one and twenty-two days twice a year. I heard
something about feast-days connected with this, but have only a dim
recollection of it all. I also saw how at different times something was
altered in their calendar. It was after their coming out of a
captivity, and the Temple was being added to at the same time. I saw
the man who altered the calendar and I knew his name. [Here she tried
to remember and said in her how German dialect with a smiling pretence
of impatience, I can't remember the fellow's name'.] I think Christ was
born in the month Kislev. [109] The reason why the Church keeps the
feast exactly a month later than the actual event is because at one
time, when an alteration in the calendar was made, some days and
seasons were completely omitted. [110] I once saw it very plainly, but
can no longer recall it properly.
9. THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS.
[Sunday, November 25 ^th (morning):] In the early dawn after Christ's
Birth the three chief shepherds came from their hill to the Cave of the
Nativity with their presents, which they had gathered together
beforehand. These presents were little animals not unlike roe-deer. If
they were kids, those in that country look very different from ours
here at home. They had long necks, very clear beautiful eyes, and were
very swift and graceful. The shepherds led them behind and beside them
on long, thin cords. The shepherds also had strings of dead birds
hanging over their shoulders, and carried some bigger live birds under
their arms. When they knocked shyly at the door of the cave, St. Joseph
came towards them with a friendly greeting. They told him what the
angel had announced to them that night, and how they were come to
worship the Child of the Promise and to present their poor gifts to
him. Joseph took their gifts with humble gratitude, and made them take
the animals into the little chamber the entrance of which is by the
southern door of the cave. Then he accompanied them into the cave
itself, and led the three shepherds up to the Blessed Virgin, who was
sitting on the coverlet on the ground by the Crib, holding the Child
Jesus before her on her lap. The shepherds, holding their staffs in
their hands, threw themselves humbly on their knees before Jesus,
weeping for joy. They remained a long time speechless with bliss and
then sang the angels' hymn of praise which they had heard in the night,
and a psalm which I have forgotten. When they got up to go away, the
Blessed Virgin put the little Jesus into their arms one after the
other. They gave Him back to her with tears and left the cave.
[Sunday, November 25 ^th (evening): During the whole day Catherine
Emmerich was in great distress of body and mind. She had hardly fallen
asleep in the evening when she at once felt herself transported to the
Promised Land. During this year she had been also contemplating the
first year of Christ's ministry, and particularly His forty-days' fast,
and she exclaimed in childlike wonder: What a moving sight! On one side
I see Jesus as a man thirty years of age fasting and tempted in a cave
in the wilderness, and on the other I see Him as a newborn child in the
Cave of the Nativity, adored by the shepherds from the shepherds'
tower.' After these words the visionary rose from her couch with
astonishing rapidity, ran to the open door of her room and called in an
ecstasy of joy to some friends who were in the outer room: Come
quickly, quickly to adore the Child, He is in my room.' She returned as
rapidly to her couch, and began, quivering with rapture and devotion,
to sing in a clear, inexpressibly moving voice the Magnificat, Gloria
in Excelsis, and some other unknown hymns of praise. These were simple
but profound and were partly in rhyme. In one hymn she sang second. She
was in an unusually joyful and excited mood and said next morning:]
Yesterday evening several shepherds and shepherdesses and children from
the Shepherds' Tower, which is four hours away, came to the Crib with
presents. They brought eggs, birds, honey, woven stuffs of different
colors, little bunches of what looked like raw silk, and bushes of a
rush-like shrub with big leaves and ears full of thick grains. After
handing their presents to St. Joseph, they came up humbly to the Crib,
beside which the Blessed Virgin sat. They greeted her and the Child,
and then, kneeling round her, they sang some lovely hymns, the Gloria
in Excelsis, and a few short verses. I sang with them; they sang in
parts. In one of the hymns I sang second. I remember the words more or
less: O little child, red as a rose, like a herald you come forth.'
When they made their farewell, they bent over the Crib as though they
were kissing the Infant Jesus.
10. THE SHEPHERDS ASSIST ST. JOSEPH. ESSENE WOMEN RENDER SERVICE TO THE BLESSED
VIRGIN.
[November 26 ^th:] Today I saw the three shepherds taking it in turns
to help St. Joseph to arrange things more comfortably in the cave,
round about it and in the side caves. I also saw several devout women
with the Blessed Virgin, assisting her in various ways. These women
were Essenes, and lived not far from the cave, as you went round to the
east of the hill. They lived near each other in the deep part of the
valley, in little chambers high up in the rock at a place where the
hill had broken away. They had small gardens beside their dwellings and
gave lessons to children belonging to their sect. St. Joseph had asked
them to come; he knew this community since his childhood, for when as a
boy he bid himself from his brothers in the Cave of the Nativity, he
sometimes visited these pious women in their rock-dwellings. They took
it in turns to come to the Blessed Virgin, bringing her bundles of wood
and other small necessities, and cooking and washing for the Holy
Family.
11. THE DONKEY KNEELS BEFORE JESUS. ST. ANNE'S MAID FROM NAZARETH COMES TO MARY.
[November 27 ^th:] Today I saw a very touching scene in the cave.
Joseph and Mary were standing by the Crib, looking at the Infant Jesus
with great devotion, when the donkey threw himself suddenly on his
knees and bent his head down to the ground. Mary and Joseph wept. In
the evening came messengers from Anna, the Blessed Virgin's holy
mother. An elderly man and Anna's maidservant, a widow who was related
to her, arrived from Nazareth. [Please see Figure 16.] They brought all
kinds of little things which Mary needed. They were greatly moved at
seeing the Infant, and the old manservant wept tears of joy. He soon
started home again to bring Anna news. The maidservant remained with
the Blessed Virgin.
Figure 16. Saint Anne's maid.
12. THE BLESSED VIRGIN HIDES FROM EMISSARIES OF HEROD.
[November 28 ^th:] Today I saw the Blessed Virgin with the Infant Jesus
and the maidservant leaving the cave for several hours. I saw that
after coming out of the door she turned to the right under the
projecting thatched roof, then took a few steps and hid herself in the
side cave. This was the cave where the fountain of water sprang up at
Christ's birth and was captured by Joseph. She remained four hours in
this cave, but later she spent a few days there. Joseph had been there
at dawn to make a few arrangements for her comfort. They were given an
inner warning to go there, for today there came to the cave from
Bethlehem some men, emissaries of Herod, I think, because of the rumor,
spread abroad by the shepherds' talk, that some wonderful thing had
happened there connected with a child. I saw these men exchanging a few
remarks with St. Joseph, whom they met in front of the Cave of the
Nativity in the company of the shepherds. When they saw how poor and
simple he was, they left him with supercilious smiles. The Blessed
Virgin remained with the Infant Jesus about four hours in the
side-cave, and then returned to the Crib. The Cave of the Nativity is
pleasantly situated and very quiet. No one comes here from Bethlehem,
except the shepherds whose duties bring them here. In general no one in
Bethlehem pays any attention to what happens out here, for owing to the
many strangers there is a great press of people coming and going in the
town. There is much buying and slaughtering of beasts, as many of the
people present pay their taxes with beasts. There are also many heathen
there, who work as servants.
[This evening Catherine Emmerich said suddenly in her sleep: Herod has
had a pious man murdered who had an important post in the Temple. He
invited him most warmly to visit him at Jericho and had him murdered on
the way. He was opposed to Herod's pretensions regarding the Temple. In
spite of Herod being accused of this murder, his power over the Temple
increases.' She again insisted that Herod had appointed two of his
natural sons to high places in the Temple; that these were Sadducees
and that they betrayed to him everything that went on there.]
13. THE ANGEL'S APPEARANCE TO THE SHEPHERDS HAS BECOME WIDESPREAD.
[November 29 ^th:] Early this morning the friendly innkeeper from the
last inn, in which the Holy Family spent the night from November 22
^nd-23 ^rd, sent a servant with presents to the cave, and in the course
of the day he came himself to worship the Child. The appearance of the
angels to the shepherds in the hour of Christ's Birth has made the
story of the wonderful Child of the Promise known to all good folk here
in the valleys, and these people have come to worship the Child whom
they had sheltered unknown to themselves.
14. MANY PEOPLE VISIT THE CHILD JESUS ON THE WAY TO BETHLEHEM. JOSEPH PAWNS THE
SHE-ASS.
[November 30 ^th:] Today several shepherds and other good people came
to the Cave of the Nativity and worshipped the Infant Jesus with great
fervor. They were dressed in their best and were on their way to
Bethlehem for the Sabbath. Among these people I saw the surly
shepherd's good wife, who had given shelter to the Holy Family on
November 20 ^th. She might have taken a more direct road from her home
to go to Jerusalem for the Sabbath, but she made a detour by Bethlehem
in order to pay respect to the Holy Child and His dear parents. The
good woman was full of happiness at having shown them loving-kindness.
Today, I also saw St. Joseph's relations, near whose dwelling the Holy
Family had passed the night of November 22 ^nd, come to the cave and
greet the Child. Among them was the father of that Jonadab who at the
Crucifixion brought Jesus a cloth to cover His nakedness. He had heard
from the innkeeper of his village about Joseph's journey through the
place and about the wonderful happenings at the birth of the Child, and
had come here with presents for Him on his way to the Sabbath at
Bethlehem. He greeted Mary and worshipped the Infant Jesus. Joseph was
very friendly with him; he accepted nothing from him, but gave him the
young she-ass (who had been running free with them) as a pledge, on
condition that he could redeem her on repayment of the money. Joseph
needed the money to pay for the presents and the meal at the
circumcision ceremony. After Joseph had finished this business and
everybody had gone to the synagogue in Bethlehem, he hung up in the
cave the Sabbath lamp with seven wicks, lit it, and put beneath it a
table covered with a red-and-white cloth on which lay prayer-scrolls.
Here under the lamp he celebrated the eve of the Sabbath, reciting
prayers with the Blessed Virgin and Anna's maidservant. [111] Two
shepherds stood farther back in the entrance of the cave. The Essene
women were also present, and afterwards they prepared the meal. Today,
the eve of the Sabbath, the Essene women and the maidservant prepared
several dishes for the next day. I saw the plucked and cleaned birds
being roasted on a spit over the glowing embers. While roasting them
they rolled them in a kind of flour made by pounding grains which grew
in the ears of a rush-like plant. This plant grows wild only in damp,
marshy places in that country and on the sunny side. In some places it
is cultivated. It grows wild near Bethlehem and Hebron, but I never saw
it near Nazareth. The shepherds of the tower had brought some of it to
Joseph. I saw them making the grains into a thick shiny white paste,
and they also baked cakes with the flour. I saw open holes under the
fireplace, very hot, where they baked cakes as well as birds and other
things. They kept for themselves very little of the many provisions
given by the shepherds to St. Joseph. Most of it went as presents and
as food for others, especially for the poor. Tomorrow evening, during
the meal at the circumcision ceremony, there will be a great
distribution.
__________________________________________________________________
[99] Matt. 2 .1 ; Birth, Adoration of the Shepherds, Circumcision: Luke
2.7-21. (SB)
[100] AC's delicate description of the painless, miraculous birth of
Christ finds parallels (especially in the cave being filled with light)
in Protev. 19 and Ps-Matt. 13, though both these apocryphal sources
introduce a midwife, whose services are not required. (SB)
[101] Herod's two sons, placed in the Temple, are mentioned by AC
(infra, p. 102 ) as natural sons. History is, however, silent in their
regard. (SB)
[102] The tradition about strange portents in Rome at the birth of
Christ is very ancient. Its first appearance in a document seems to be
in the Universal History of Orosius (A.D. 418), the friend of St.
Augustine. We find here the fountain of oil, the idol speaking, the
vision of Augustus, and so forth. The story was elaborated by the time
of the fourteenth-century Byzantine historian Nicephorus Callistus. The
matter is fully studied in Graf, Roma nella memoria e nelle
immaginazioni del medio evo, Turin, 1882, Vol. 1, pp. 308-331, where
the texts are reproduced. The Church of Our Lady in question is Santa
Maria in Ara Coeli, on the Capitol Hill, where Augustus is said to have
put up a new altar (infra, p. 94 ). The mention (infra, p. 94 ) of the
consul Lentulus need not be associated with the fictitious letter of
Lentulus (a supposed Roman official in Judea) about the appearance of
Christ. But there was a consul Lucius Lentulus after the death of
Julius Caesar (44 B.C.), mentioned by Josephus (Ant., XIV, x, 13).
Lentulus the friend of Peter in Rome is unknown, and is not likely to
be Lentulus Getulicus who was involved in a plot against Caligula in
A.D. 41 and was executed, since Peter probably did not come to Rome
until A.D. 42. The priest Moses was one of the first martyrs under
Decius, and died in 251 (Ramsgate Book of Saints). (SB)
[103] Elijah makes his appearance in 3 Kings 17.1 in the reign of King
Ahab, 874-853 B.C. (SB)
[104] Here her story was interrupted by so strange and sudden an
occurrence that we feel bound to communicate it, so characteristic is
it of her condition. It was about six o'clock in the evening of Nov.
27th, 1821, when she spoke these last words in her sleep. It must be
remembered that for many years her feet had been paralyzed; she could
not walk, and could with difficulty raise herself to a sitting
position, so that she was, as always, lying stretched out on her couch.
The door stood open between her room and the room adjoining it in which
her confessor was at that moment sitting by the lamp reading his
Breviary. She had just said these words with such truth of expression
that it was impossible to doubt that she was seeing it all actually
happening before her eyes. Hardly, however, had she stammered out the
word Tanada' than the enfeebled and paralyzed sleeper suddenly sprang
up from her couch with lightning speed, hurried into the adjoining
room, and rushed to the window, striking out with hands and feet as if
she were attacking and warding off something. Then, turning to her
confessor, she said, That was a great big brute, but I gave him a kick
and sent him off'. After these words she sank down as if fainting, and
lay very quietly and calmly on the floor of the room before the window.
The priest at his Breviary was, like the writer, staggered by this
highly surprising incident, but without wasting words he said to her,
Sister Emmerich, under obedience, go back to your bed'; whereupon she
at once got up, returned to her room, and lay down again on her bed.
When the writer asked her, What was that strange incident?' she told
him the following. She was wide awake and in full consciousness, and
though she was tired, she was in the cheerful state of mind of someone
who has won a victory. Yes, it was indeed odd. I was so far, far away
in the land of the three kings. I was standing on the high mountain
ridge between the two seas, looking down into their tent-cities (just
as one looks out of the window here into the poultry-yard), when I
suddenly felt myself called home by my guardian angel. I turned round
and saw here in Duelmen, passing in front of our little house, a poor
old woman whom I knew. She had come out of a little grocer's shop. She
was in a very bad and evil-tempered mood, and was grumbling and cursing
to herself in a quite abominable way. Then I saw that her guardian
angel abandoned her and that a great black devil-shape laid itself
across her path in the dark, to make her stumble over him and break her
neck and so die in her sins. When I saw that, I let the three kings be
( liess ich drei Koenige drei Koenige sein' ), prayed earnestly to God
to help the poor woman, and was back here in my room. Then I saw that
the devil was beating against the window in dreadful fury and was
trying to break into the room; I saw that he had a whole bundle of
nooses and knotted strings in his claws. He was trying, out of revenge,
to start a great complication and annoyance here with all these; so I
rushed at him and gave him a kick which made him stagger back. That
will have given him something to remember! And then I lay down before
the window across his path, to prevent him from coming in.' It is
indeed strange that while she is looking down from the Caucasus and
seeing and recounting things that happened five hundred years before
Christ's birth as though they were before her eyes, she should at the
same moment see the danger surrounding a poor little old woman close to
her house at home and should hurry energetically to help her. It was an
amazing spectacle to see her rushing in like a living skeleton and
fighting with such violence, whereas in her waking state, she can,
since Sept. 8th, hardly move forward a few steps on her crutches
without fainting. (CB)
[105] The date of Christ's birth is usually fixed by modern scholars in
8 B.C. (e.g. Fr. T. Corbishley, S.J., in Cath. Comm., 676a), or at
latest 6-4 B.C. (ib., 749a), but the argument is from contemporary
history (such as the death of Herod in 4 B.C.), and not, as AC
suggests, from the computation of the Annus Mundi. Yet it is
interesting that AC's date 7 B.C. is so near the conclusions of
present-day studies. (SB)
[106] The chronological data are fairly exact by modern conclusions.
The forty-fifth year of Augustus is reckoned (as was the custom among
the older historians, e.g. Muratori in 1744-1749) from his assumption
of power as a triumvir in 44 B.C., and corresponds therefore to A.D. I
(though AC had just said that Christ was born in 7 B.C.). Herod reigned
40-4 B.C. (thirty-six years--AC says forty), and AC gives his
thirty-fourth year for the birth of Christ, i.e. 6 B.C. There is
therefore some confusion in the correlation of the data. For Herod's
madness, cf. Josephus Ant., XVII, vi, 5 to viii, 1. (SB)
[107] Josephus tells us (Ant., XV, xi, I) that Herod began the
rebuilding of the Temple in his eighteenth year, i.e. 20-19 B.C., and
that work continued for one and a half years (ib., 6). The Gospel (
John 2.20), referring to the beginning of Our Lord's ministry, A.D. 29,
mentions forty-six years of the Temple, which would give the date 17
B.C., perhaps, for its completion. Perhaps AC's "seventeen years before
the birth of Christ" can be understood as 17 B.C., but there is a
slight confusion here. (SB)
[108] The twelve Hebrew lunar months (of alternatively twenty-nine and
thirty days) gave a year of 354 days, so that every few years an error
accumulated which was corrected by the insertion after the twelfth
month, Adar, of a thirteenth or intercalary month, called Second Adar.
The need for this intercalation was, at the time of Christ, still
determined empirically, in such a way that the celebration of the Pasch
at the full moon or fourteenth day of the first month, Nisan, should
always occur after the spring equinox (Mar. 21st). The intercalary
month was of the same length as the other months, running from new moon
to new moon. (Cf. Schuerer, The Jewish People in the Time of Christ, I,
ii, 369 sqq.) AC herself admitted the likelihood of confusion on her
part about this technical matter. (SB)
[109] Kislev was the ninth month, corresponding approximately to our
Nov./Dec., and according to AC (infra, p. 119 ) Christ was born on the
12th Kislev, which that year was Nov. 25th. (SB)
[110] The calendar was adjusted in 1582, when by order of Pope Gregory
XIII ten days were omitted, so that the day following Oct. 4th in that
year was Oct. 15th, and thus the spring equinox was restored to Mar.
21st. The ten days' error was the accumulation since the previous
adjustment at Nicaea in A.D. 325 (cf. Breviary, De Anno et ejus
partibus). (SB)
[111] The ritual of lighting the Sabbath lamp on Friday evening is
described in the Mishnah, Shabbath, II, 5-7; III, 6. The Mosaic
prohibition of making fire on the Sabbath is in Exod. 35.3. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XII. THE CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS
1. PREPARATION FOR THE CIRCUMCISION. JOSEPHS FETCHS THE PRIESTS FROM BETHLEHEM.
[DECEMBER 1 ^st:] This afternoon I saw several more people who were
keeping the Sabbath come to the Cave of the Nativity, and in the
evening, after the Sabbath was over, I saw the Essene women and Mary's
maidservant preparing a meal in an arbor in front of the entrance to
the cave. Joseph had begun to put up this arbor with the shepherds
several days before. He had also cleared out his room at the entrance
to the cave, covering the floor with rugs and decorating everything as
festively as his poverty allowed. He had made all these arrangements
before the Sabbath began, for tomorrow at daybreak is the eighth day
from the birth of Christ, when the child must be circumcised according
to God's commandment.
Towards evening Joseph had gone to Bethlehem, and returned with three
priests, an elderly man, and a woman who seemed to act as a kind of
nurse at this solemn ceremony. She brought with her a chair specially
kept for these occasions, and a thick octagonal stone slab containing
what was necessary. All these things were put down on mats spread out
at the place where the ceremony was to take place. This was at the
entrance to the cave, not far from the Crib, between the partition
lately removed by Joseph and the hearth-place. The chair was really a
box and could be drawn out to form a sort of low couch with an arm at
one side. It was covered with red material. It was more for lying than
sitting on. The octagonal stone slab must have been over two feet in
diameter. In its center there was an octagonal cavity covered with a
metal plate; in it were three boxes and a stone knife in separate
compartments. This stone slab was placed beside the chair on a
three-legged stool, which until now had always stood, covered with a
cloth, on the place where Our Lord was born.
When all had been arranged, the priests greeted the Blessed Virgin and
the Infant Jesus. They spoke friendly words to her and took the Child
in their arms with emotion. A meal was then eaten in the arbor before
the entrance, and a crowd of poor people (who, as always happens on
such occasions, had followed the priests) surrounded the table and were
given presents throughout the meal by Joseph and the priests, so that
soon everything was distributed.
I saw the sun go down; it looked bigger than here at home. I saw its
low rays shining through the open door into the Cave of the Nativity.
2. THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST. THE NAME JESUS.
[Sunday, December 2 ^nd. She does not mention whether after yesterday's
meal the priests again returned to the town and did not come back till
next morning, or whether they passed the night at or near the cave:]
There were lamps lit in the cave and I saw them often praying and
singing during the night. The circumcision took place at dawn, eight
days after the birth of Our Lord. [112] The Blessed Virgin was
distressed and anxious. She had herself prepared the little cloths to
catch the blood and to bandage the Child and had kept them at her
breast in a fold of her mantle. The octagonal stone slab was covered by
the priests first with red and then with white. This was accompanied by
prayers and ceremonies. One of the priests then placed himself in the
chair, leaning back rather than sitting in it, while the Blessed
Virgin, who was veiled and holding the Infant Jesus in her arms at the
back of the cave, handed the Child to the maidservant together with the
bandages. St. Joseph took Him from the maidservant and gave Him to the
nurse who had come with the priests. She laid the little Jesus, covered
with a veil, upon the cloth on the octagonal stone slab.
Prayers were again offered. Then, the woman unwrapped the Child from
His swaddling clothes and placed Him on the lap of the priest in the
chair. St. Joseph bent down over the priest's shoulders and held the
upper part of the Child's body. Two priests knelt to right and left,
each holding one of the Child's feet: the one who was to perform the
holy ceremony knelt before the Child. The cover was removed from the
stone to disclose the three boxes with healing ointments and lotions.
The handle and the blade of the knife were both of stone. The smooth
brown handle had a groove into which the blade could be shut down; the
latter was of the yellow color of raw silk, and did not seem to me to
be sharp. The cut was made with the hook-shaped point of the blade,
which when opened must have been nine inches long. The priest also made
use of his sharp finger-nails for the operation. Afterwards he sucked
the wound and dabbed it with healing lotion and some soothing substance
from the boxes. The part that was cut off he placed between two round
discs of some precious material, shining and reddish-brown in color,
and slightly hollowed out in the center, making a kind of flat box.
This was handed to the Blessed Virgin. The nurse now took the Child,
bandaged Him, and wrapped Him again in His swaddling clothes. Up till
now these, which were red beneath and white above, had been wound round
up to under the arms. Now the little arms were also wrapped round, and
the veil was wrapped round His head instead of covering it. He was then
again laid on the octagonal slab of stone, which was covered with its
cloths, and more prayers were said over Him. Although I know that the
angel had told Joseph that the child was to be called Jesus, yet I
remember that the priest did not at once approve of this name, and
therefore fell to praying. I then saw a shining angel appear before the
priest, holding before his eyes a tablet (like that on the Cross) with
the name of Jesus. I do not know whether he or any of the other priests
saw this angel as I did, but he was awe-struck, and I saw him writing
this name by divine inspiration on a parchment.
The Infant Jesus wept loudly after the sacred ceremony, and I saw that
He was given back to St. Joseph. He laid Him in the arms of the Blessed
Virgin, who was standing with two women in the back of the cave. She
wept as she took Him, and withdrew into the corner where the Crib was.
Here she sat down, wrapped in her veil and soothed the crying Infant by
giving Him her breast. Joseph also gave her the little bloodstained
cloths: the nurse kept the little bloody shreds of stuff that remained.
Prayers were again said and hymns sung; the lamp was still burning, but
day was breaking. After a while the Blessed Virgin came forward herself
with the Child and laid Him down on the octagonal stone; the priests
held out their hands to her, crossed over the Child. After this she
retired, taking the Child with her. Before the priests left, taking
with them all that they had brought, they ate a light meal in the arbor
with Joseph and a few shepherds who had been standing at the entrance
to the cave. I learnt that all those who took part in this holy
ceremony were good people, and that the priests were later enlightened
and obtained salvation. During the whole morning generous presents were
given to poor people who came to the door. During the ceremony the
donkey was tied up farther away. Today crowds of dirty, swarthy beggars
went past the cave, carrying bundles, coming from the Valley of the
Shepherds. They seemed to be going to Jerusalem for some feast. They
were very violent in demanding alms, and cursed and raged horribly at
the Crib because they were not satisfied with Joseph's presents. I do
not know what was wrong with these people; I felt a great dislike for
them. Today the nurse came again to the Blessed Virgin and bandaged the
Infant Jesus. In the night that followed I saw the Child often restless
with pain and crying a great deal. Mary and Joseph took Him in their
arms in turns, carrying Him about and comforting Him.
3. ELIZABETH VISITS THE MANGER.
[December 3 ^rd:] This evening I saw Elizabeth coming from Juttah to
the Cave of the Nativity. She was riding on a donkey led by an aged
manservant. Joseph received her very warmly, and she and Mary embraced
each other with intense joy. She pressed the Infant Jesus to her heart
with tears. Her couch was prepared beside the place where Jesus was
born. In front of this place there stood sometimes a high stand like a
sawing-trestle, with a little box on it. They often laid the Infant
Jesus in this box, standing round Him in prayer and caressing Him. This
must be the custom there, for I saw in Anna's house the child Mary
lying on a similar stand. Elizabeth and Mary talked to each other in
the sweetest intimacy.
4. FAMILIARITY BETWEEN MARY AND ELIZABETH. MARY CONFIDES HER PAINS AND JOYS.
[December 4 ^th:] Yesterday evening and again today I saw Mary and
Elizabeth sitting together in sweet converse, and I felt myself to be
with them and heard all their talk with heartfelt joy. The Blessed
Virgin told her everything that had happened to her, and when she
described their difficulty in finding a lodging in Bethlehem, Elizabeth
wept in sympathy. She also told her much about the birth of the Infant
Jesus, and I can remember something of this. She said that at the time
of the Annunciation she had lost consciousness for ten minutes and had
felt as if her heart had grown to double its size and as if she were
filled with inexpressible grace. At the hour of the Birth of Christ she
had been full of endless yearning, and had been rapt in ecstasy,
feeling as though she were uplifted, kneeling, by angels; then she had
felt as though her heart was split in twain, and that one half had gone
from her. She had remained thus for ten minutes without consciousness,
then she had had a feeling of inner emptiness and an intense yearning
for an infinite salvation outside herself, whereas before she had
always felt that it was within her. She had then seen a glow of light
before her, in which the form of her Child seemed to grow before her
eyes. Then she had seen His movements and heard His crying, and coming
to herself, had taken Him up from the ground to her breast. At first
she had been as in a dream, and had not dared to lift up the little
Child surrounded with radiance. She also said that she had not been
conscious of having given birth to the Child. Elizabeth said to her:
You have been more favored in giving birth than other women: the birth
of John was a joy indeed, but it was otherwise than with you.' That is
all that I remember of their talk.
Today I saw many people visiting the Blessed Virgin and the Infant
Jesus. I also saw a lot of ill-behaved folk like the day before going
by and stopping at the door to demand alms, cursing and raging. Joseph
did not give them any presents this time. Towards evening Mary again
hid herself with the Infant Jesus and Elizabeth in the cave at the side
of the Cave of the Nativity, and I think Mary remained there the whole
night. This happened because all kinds of inquisitive and important
people from Bethlehem crowded to the Crib, and the Blessed Virgin did
not wish to be seen by them.
Today I saw the Blessed Virgin leave the Cave of the Nativity with the
Infant Jesus and go into another cave to the right of it. The entrance
was very narrow, and fourteen steep steps led down first into a small
cellar-like chamber and then into a vaulted chamber which was more
spacious than the Cave of the Nativity. The space near the entrance was
semicircular, and Joseph divided this oil by a hanging curtain, leaving
a rectangular room beyond. The light fell not from above but through
side-openings pierced in the thick rock. During the last few days I saw
an old man clearing out of this cave a lot of brushwood and bundles of
straw or rushes such as Joseph used for kindling. It must have been a
shepherd who helped in this way. This cave was lighter and more
spacious than the Cave of the Nativity. The donkey was not kept here. I
saw the Infant Jesus lying here in a hollowed trough on the ground. In
the last few days I often saw Mary showing her Child to visitors who
came singly. He was covered with a veil, but otherwise had nothing on
but a bandage round His body. At other times I saw the little Child all
swaddled up again. I see the nurse often visiting the Child. Mary gave
her a generous share of the gifts brought by the visitors, which she
distributed amongst the needy in Bethlehem.
__________________________________________________________________
[112] The conduct of the rite is accurately described (cf. Jewish
Encyc., art. Circumcision', pp. 95 sqq.), though it seems that the
mohel was usually a surgeon rather than a priest. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XIII. THE JOURNEY OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS TO BETHLEHEM [113]
[1821. Catherine Emmerich had already, in the course of 1819 and 1820,
communicated a series of visions of the three holy kings' journey to
Bethlehem. But, as at that time she was following the dates of the
feasts of the Church in her contemplations, the period of thirteen days
from Christmas to the Epiphany was too short for their long journey,
and she communicated only some descriptions of single halting-places.
As, however, in 1821 she dated the day of Christ's birth a month
earlier, that is to say on November 25 ^th, and saw the departure of
the kings for Judea on that day, there remained a space of about a
month's time for the journey. She said, in defining its length, I
always saw the kings approaching Bethlehem when I was putting out the
Crib in the convent,'--that is to say, about December 25 ^th. Thus, it
is more likely that Herod would no longer find the Child in Bethlehem
after the departure of the kings, since the departure of the holy
family could then have already occurred.]
1. THE KINGS SEE THE STAR AND BEGIN THEIR TRAVEL.
[November 25 ^th :] I have already related on Christmas Day how I saw
the Birth of Christ being announced to the kings on Christmas night. I
saw Mensor and the dark-skinned Seir gazing at the stars from a field
in Mensor's country. [114] Everything was prepared for their departure.
They were on a pyramid-shaped tower looking through long tubes at the
Star of Jacob, which had a tail. The star split asunder before their
eyes, and I saw a great shining virgin appear therein, before whom a
radiant child hovered in the air. At his right hand a branch grew
forth, bearing, like a flower, a little tower with several entrances.
This tower was finally transformed into a city. I cannot remember the
picture completely. Immediately after seeing this picture they both
started off. Theokeno, the third king, lived a few days' journey
farther to the east. He saw the same star-picture in the same hour, and
set off at once in great haste in order to overtake his two friends
quickly, which he succeeded in doing.
[November 26 ^th:] I went to sleep with a great longing to be with the
Mother of God in the Cave of the Nativity, and to be given by her the
Infant Jesus to hold in my arms for a little and to press Him to my
heart. I did come there, at night. Joseph was asleep behind his
partition to the right of the entrance, his head resting on his right
arm. Mary sat at her usual place beside the Crib; she was awake, and
held the Infant Jesus to her breast under her veil. When she sat
watching in the daytime, a piece of her coverlet was rolled up to make
a pillow behind her back as a support; now, at night, she lay back on
her couch so that her head was lower. I fell on my knees and prayed
with great longing that I might hold the Child for a little. Ah, she
knew well what I wanted: she knows everything and accepts everything
with such loving, touching sympathy if one prays with real faith; but
she was so still, so quiet and so full of adoring mother-love, and she
did not give me the Child--I think because she was suckling Him. I
would not have either. But my longing increased continually, and joined
in the stream of longing of all the souls who yearn for the Infant
Jesus. This burning desire for Our Savior was, however, nowhere so
pure, innocent, child-like, and true as in the hearts of the beloved
holy kings from the East, all of whose ancestors had for centuries
waited for Him, in faith, hope, and love. So my longing drew me then to
them, and when I had finished my adoration, I crept softly and
reverently out of the cave, so as to make no disturbance, and was taken
on a long journey, in the train of the three holy kings. On this
journey I saw many things--many strange countries and dwellings and
many different peoples, their clothes and their manners and customs as
well as many idolatrous ceremonies that they performed; but I have
forgotten most of it. I will relate as well as I can what still remains
clear in my memory.
I was taken eastwards to a region where I had never been before. It was
mostly sand and desert. On some of the hills lived people in groups of
five to eight, like families, inhabiting huts made of brushwood. The
brushwood roof was built against the hill out of which the living-rooms
were hollowed. On going in, I saw that the huts were divided into rooms
by partitions. The front and back rooms were larger than the central
ones. Nothing at all grew in that region but low bushes, and here and
there a little tree bearing buds out of which the people pulled white
wool. Besides these I saw a few larger trees under which they had
placed their idols. These men must have been still in a very wild
state, for they seemed to me to eat little but meat, and even the raw
flesh of birds. They seemed to live partly by robbery. They were as
dark as copper and had foxy yellow hair. They were small, thick-set,
and rather fat, but very skilful, agile, and active. They seemed to
have no domestic animals and no flocks or herds. They wore, I saw, but
little clothing. [Please refer to Figure 17.] The men had short aprons
hanging in folds under their girdle before and behind, and wore on
their breast a sort of narrow diagonally ribbed scapulary, fastened
across the shoulders and round the neck. This narrow breast-covering
seemed to be elastic and could be pulled out longer. Their whole back
down to the girdle was uncovered except for the strap across the
shoulders. On their heads they wore hoods tied round with a band, and
having a sort of rosette or knot on the forehead. The women wore short
skirts half-way down to the knee; the breast and the lower part of the
body was covered with what looked like the front of a jacket, the edge
of which came down to the girdle. This garment was closed at the neck
with a strip of stuff of the shape and size of a stole; it was
scalloped round the shoulders, but plain over the breast. Their
head-covering was a cap crowned by a button shaped like a truncated
goblet. This cap was drawn down to make a point over the forehead, and
covered the ears and part of the cheek. Behind the ears and at the back
of the head this cap had loose flaps of stuff between which cushions of
hair could be seen. The breast-covering of the women was colored, and
was quilted or embroidered with yellow and green designs. It was
decorated in front down the middle with buttons and scalloped on the
shoulders. The embroidery was rather coarse, as on old vestments. Their
upper arms were covered with bracelets.
Figure 17. An Eastern man and woman making wool cords.
These people made blankets or something like them out of the white
wool, which they took from the buds of the little trees. Two of them
tied a wad of this wool round their bodies, and each walked backwards
away from the other, spinning from the wool round the other one's body
a very long cord as thick as a finger. These cords they then plaited
together to make broad strips. When they had prepared a great number of
them, they went in troops, bearing great rolls of these blankets on
their heads, to sell them in a town.
Here and there in this region I saw their idols under great trees. They
had heads of horned oxen with wide-open mouths, and lower down in their
body was a wider opening where fire was lit, to burn the offerings
placed in the smaller openings. Round these idol-trees stood little
stone pillars on each of which were small figures of other animals,
such as birds, dragons, and a figure with three dogs' heads and a
coiled snake's tail.
At the beginning of my journey I had the feeling of there being a great
piece of water to my right from which I was, however, always going
farther away. After I had left the region inhabited by these people, my
path continually ascended, and I had to cross a mountain ridge of white
sand, covered in many places with all kinds of little broken black
stones, like broken pots and dishes. On the farther side of this ridge
I came down a valley into a region covered with many trees growing in
almost regular rows. There were trees there with scaly trunks and
enormous leaves, also pyramid-shaped ones with very big, beautiful
flowers; these last had yellowish-green leaves and branches with buds.
I also saw trees with quite smooth heart-shaped leaves.
Thereafter I came into a region consisting of wide endless
pasture-lands between hills, where there were countless flocks and
herds of different kinds. Vines grew on the slopes of the hills, and
were cultivated, for there were rows of them on terraces, protected by
little wattle fences. The owners of the herds lived in tents with flat
roofs; the entrance was closed by a door of light wickerwork. These
tents were made of the white woolen stuff woven by the wild people I
had seen, but they were covered over with pieces of brownish stuff
overlapping each other like scales and hanging down in a shaggy edge.
They looked as if they were made of moss or fur. One big tent stood in
the middle, and many smaller ones in a wide circle round it. The flocks
and herds, divided according to their kind, went out into the wide
pastures, interspersed here and there in the distance with expanses of
bushes, like low woods. I was able to distinguish herds of very
different kinds of animals. I saw sheep with fleeces of long twisted
wool and long woolly tails, and also very agile animals with horns like
he-goats: these were as big as calves; others were the size of the
horses which run wild on our moors at home. I also saw droves of camels
and animals like them only with two humps. In one place I saw some
elephants in an enclosure, white ones and spotted ones; they were quite
tame and were used only for domestic work.
In this vision I was thrice interrupted by having my attention turned
in other directions, but I always came back-- though at another time of
day--to this picture of pastoral activity. These herds and pasturages
seemed to me to belong to one of the kings now on their travels: I
think it was Mensor and his family. They were tended by under-shepherds
wearing coats reaching to the knee, rather like the coats worn by our
peasants, only that they fitted tight round the body. I think that now
that their chief was going away for some long time, all the herds were
being examined and counted by overseers, and the under-shepherds had to
render account, for from time to time I saw more important people
arriving in long cloaks and inspecting everything. They went into the
big central tent, and the herds were then driven past between it and
the small tents to be counted and looked at. The persons who received
the reckonings had in their hands tablets, I do not know of what
material, on which they wrote something. I thought as I watched them:
How I wish our bishops would examine as diligently the flocks in the
care of their under-shepherds.'
When I again returned to the pasturages after the last interruption, it
was night. A deep stillness rested on the place. Most of the shepherds
were asleep under the small tents, only a few crept about, watching
over the sleeping herds. These lay at rest in great enclosures, divided
according to their kind, some crowded together and some less so. It was
for me a deeply moving and edifying sight--this great pasture full of
peacefully sleeping herds, the servants of mankind, and above them the
immeasurable expanse of the deep-blue pastures of heaven, filled with
countless stars--stars which had come forth at the bidding of their
almighty Creator. They follow the voice of their shepherd like true
sheep with greater obedience than the sheep of earth give to their
mortal shepherds. And, when I saw the waking shepherds wandering to and
fro and turning their eyes more to the starry flocks above than to the
earthly ones below who were entrusted to their care, I thought within
myself: they are right to look up in astonishment and gratitude to
where their ancestors have for centuries turned their expectant gaze in
longing and prayer. The good shepherd seeks for the lost sheep and
rests not till he has found it and brought it home; so does the
Heavenly Father, the true Shepherd of all these countless flocks of
stars in immeasurable space. When man, whom He had made lord of the
earth, sinned, and as a punishment the earth became cursed to him, God
sought out fallen man and his home the earth like the lost sheep. He
even sent down His only-begotten Son to become man, to bring the lost
sheep home, to take upon Himself as the Lamb of God, the sins of
mankind, and, by dying Himself, to make satisfaction for those sins to
the divine justice. And now the coming of the promised Redeemer was at
hand, and the kings of these shepherds, led by a star, had set forth
the night before to pay homage to the newborn Redeemer. That was why
the watchers of the flocks looked up in awe and adoration to the
heavenly pastures, for the Shepherd of the shepherds came down from
above, and His coming was announced first of all to the shepherds.
While I was meditating on all this in the wide pasture-land, I was
aware of the stillness of the night being broken by the sound of hoofs
hurriedly approaching: it was a troop of men riding on camels. They
passed quickly by the sleeping herds to the main tent of the shepherds'
encampment. Woken by the noise, some of the camels got up from their
sleeping position and stretched their long necks towards the riders,
and lambs woke up bleating. Some of the new-corners alighted from their
beasts and woke the sleeping shepherds in the tents, while the nearest
herdsmen came up to greet the riders. Soon all were awake and gathered
round the new arrivals; there was much talking, and all looked and
pointed at the stars. They were speaking of a star or of some
apparition in the heavens, which must have already disappeared, for I
did not see it. These newcomers were Theokeno and his train. He was the
third king and the one who lived farthest away. He had seen in his home
the same picture in the skies, and had at once set forth and journeyed
to this place. He asked how far ahead of him Mensor and Seir might be,
and whether the star whose guidance they had followed could still be
seen. After receiving the news for which he asked, Theokeno and his
followers went on their way quickly without any delay. This was the
place where the three kings, coming from their separate homes, used
generally to meet to observe the stars. The pyramidal tower, from which
they looked at the stars through long tubes, was close by. Theokeno
lived farther away than the others, beyond the region which was
Abraham's first dwelling-place. They all lived near that region.
2. VISIONS OF ABRAHAM, HAGAR, AND ISHMAEL.
In the intervals between the visions of the three days during which I
saw what was happening on that wide pasture-land, I was shown much
about the places in which Abraham lived, but have forgotten most of it.
Once, in the distance, I saw the mountain on which Abraham was
preparing to sacrifice Isaac. Another time I was shown very clearly
Hagar and Ishmael in the desert, although this happened a long way from
here. I cannot remember in what connection this was. Abraham's first
dwelling-place was high up, and the lands of the three kings were below
and round it. I will here describe the picture of Ishmael and Hagar.
[115]
At the side of Abraham's mountain, more towards the lower part of the
valley, I saw Hagar and her son wandering about in the bushes; she
seemed quite beside herself. The boy was only a few years old and was
wearing a long dress. His mother was wrapped in a long cloak which
covered her head; under it she wore a short dress, the upper part of
which was tight round her body, and her arms, too, were tightly wrapped
round. She laid the child under a tree on a hill, and made signs on his
forehead, on the middle of his right upper arm, on his breast, and on
his left upper arm. When she went away I did not see the mark on his
forehead, but the other marks, which had been made on his clothing,
remained visible as if drawn in red-brown color. These marks were in
the form of a cross, but not an ordinary one. They were like a Maltese
cross, only the points of the four triangles were arranged in the shape
of a cross round a ring. In the four triangles she wrote signs or
letters, like hooks, whose significance I could not clearly retain in
my mind; I saw her also write two or three letters in the ring, in the
middle. She drew this very rapidly with some red color, which she
seemed to have in her hand (or perhaps it was blood). As she did this
she kept her thumb and forefinger pressed together. Thereupon she
turned round, gazed up to heaven, and did not look round again at her
son. She went about a gun-shot's distance away and sat down under a
tree. She heard a voice from heaven; rose up and went farther away.
Again she heard a voice, and saw a spring of water under the leaves.
She filled her leather water-bottle at the spring, and going back to
her son gave him to drink and led him to the spring, where she put
another garment over the one she had marked with crosses. That is what
I remember of this vision. I think that I saw Hagar in the desert twice
before, once before the birth of her son, and the second time with the
young Ishmael as now.
3. THEOKENO CATCHES UP TO THE TRAIN OF MENSOR AND SAIR IN A DESERTED CITY.
[The night of November 27 ^th-28 ^th. When Catherine Emmerich
communicated in 1821 these visions of the journey of the three holy
kings, she had already related the whole of Jesus' earthly ministry,
and had amongst other things seen how, after the raising of Lazarus
(which she saw happening on September 7 ^th of the third year of His
ministry), He withdrew beyond the Jordan. During His sixteen weeks'
absence there, He visited the three holy kings who on their return from
their journey to Bethlehem had settled all together, with their
attendants, nearer to the Promised Land. [116] Only Mensor and Theokeno
were alive then. The dark-skinned Seir was in his grave when Jesus came
there. It seems necessary to inform the reader about these events
(which were thirty-two years later in date but described earlier by
Catherine Emmerich) in order that certain references to them in what
follows may be understandable.]
In the night of the 27 ^th to the 28 ^th of November I saw, as day
began to dawn, Theokeno and his retinue overtake Mensor and Seir, after
whom they had been hurrying, in a deserted city with great rows of
isolated high columns. By the gates, which were square ruined towers,
and in other places stood many large and beautiful statues not so stiff
as in Egypt but in beautiful living attitudes. This region was very
sandy and rocky. In the ruins of this deserted city people who looked
like bands of robbers had settled themselves. They wore nothing but a
skin round their bodies and carried spears in their hands. They were
brown in color, short, and stocky, but remarkably agile. (I had a
feeling that I had been in this place before, perhaps on those journeys
which I made in my dreams to the mountain of the Prophet and the river
Ganges.) After the three kings and their followers had met here, they
left at dawn in haste to continue their journey. Many of the rabble who
lived here joined them because of the kings' generosity. (After
Christ's death two disciples, Saturnin and Jonadab, the half-brother of
Peter, were sent by St. John the Evangelist to this deserted city to
preach the Gospel. [117] )
4. THE HISTORICAL COLORS AND NAMES OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
I now saw all the three holy kings together. The last arrival was the
one who lived farthest away, Theokeno. His face was of a beautiful
yellowish color. (I recognized him as the one who was lying ill in his
tent, when thirty-two years later Jesus visited the kings in their
settlement nearer the Promised Land.) Each of the three kings had with
him four near relations or friends of his family, so that, counting the
kings, there were fifteen important people of the party, besides the
crowd of servants and camel-drivers that followed them. Amongst the
many youths in their retinue, who were quite naked from the waist
upwards, and were astonishingly agile in leaping and running, I
recognized the young Eleazar, who later became a martyr and of whom I
possess a relic. [118]
[In the afternoon, when her confessor again asked her for the names of
the three holy kings, she answered, Mensor, the brown-faced one, after
Christ's death received the name of Leander on his baptism by St.
Thomas. Theokeno, the old, yellow-faced one, who was ill when Jesus
visited Mensor's camp in Arabia, was baptized Leo by St. Thomas. The
brown-skinned one, who was already dead when Jesus made His visit, was
called Seir or Sair.' Her confessor asked her: How then was he
baptized?' She answered smiling and without hesitation: He was already
dead and had received the baptism of desire.' Her confessor then said:
I have never heard these names in my life: how then did they get the
names of Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar?' She replied: They were
called this because it goes with their character, for these names mean:
(1) He goes with love; (2) He wanders about, he approaches gently and
with ingratiating manners: (3) He makes rapid decisions, he quickly
directs his will to the will of God.' She said this with great
friendliness, and expressed the meaning of the names by making
pantomimic gestures with her hand on the bed-coverlet. It must remain
for the language experts to decide how far these words can be made to
bear these meanings. [119] ]
5. THE TRAIN OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS RESTS AT A SPRING.
[November 28 ^th:] It was not, I think, until a half-day's journey from
the deserted city with its many columns and statues that I first really
joined the three kings and their train. It was in a more fertile
region. One could see shepherds' dwellings here and there, with walls
of black and white stones. The travelers came to a spring of water in
the plain near which there were several large sheds, open at the side.
Three stood in the middle with others round them. This seemed to be a
customary halting-place for caravans. I saw that the whole procession
was divided into three separate parties; each had five leaders, one
being the chief or king, who, like a master of the house, saw to
everything, gave orders, and apportioned the work. The members of each
of these three parties had faces of different colors. Mensor's tribe
was of a pleasing brownish color, Seir's was brown, and Theokeno's a
bright yellow. I saw none shining black in color except some slaves,
who were in all three parties. The leaders sat on their high-loaded
beasts between bundles covered with carpets. They had staffs in their
hands. They were followed by other beasts, almost as big as horses and
ridden by servants and slaves with luggage. When they arrived at the
halting-place they dismounted, unloaded the beasts completely and
watered them at the spring, which was surrounded by a little rampart on
which was a wall with three openings in it. The cistern was at the
bottom of this enclosure; it had a fountain with three water-pipes
closed by pegs. The cistern was covered with a lid, which a man who had
come with them from the deserted city opened in return for a fee. They
had leather vessels, which could be folded up quite flat, with four
partitions. These were filled with water, and four camels always drank
from them at the same time. They were very careful with the water, and
not a drop was allowed to be wasted. After drinking, the camels were
led into open enclosures near the spring, each in a separate
compartment. Fodder which had been brought with them was shaken out
into the stone troughs in front of them; it consisted of grains of the
size of acorns (perhaps beans). Amongst the baggage there were also big
square bird-cages, narrow and high, hanging by the sides of the camels
under the larger packages. In these were birds, single or in couples,
according to their size; they were as big as pigeons or liens, and were
kept in separate compartments as food on the journey. They carried
their loaves of bread, which were all of the same size, in leather
cases, packing the slabs tightly together and taking out only so much
as they needed each time. They had with them very costly vessels of
yellow metal, some of them ornamented with precious stones. These were
almost exactly like our chalices and incense-boats in shape; they drank
from them and handed round food on them. The rims of most of these
vessels were set with red jewels.
The three tribes differed somewhat in their clothing. [Please refer to
Figure 18.] Theokeno, the yellow-skinned, and his family, as well as
Mensor, the light-brown one, wore high hoods embroidered in colors with
a strip of thick white stuff wound round them. Their coats, which were
very simple, with few buttons or ornaments on the breast, reached
almost to their ankles. They wrapped themselves in light cloaks, very
full and flowing, so that they trailed on the ground behind them. Seir,
the brown-skinned one, and his family wore caps with little white pads
and round hoods embroidered in colors on which was a disc of another
color. Their cloaks were shorter than the others', but longer at the
back than in front; their coats were buttoned to the knee and were
decorated at the breast with braid and tinsel and thickly set with
shining buttons. On one side of the breast they wore a shining little
shield like a star. All wore sandals, the soles of which were fastened
round their bare feet with cords. The more important ones had short
swords or long knives in their girdles, with many pouches and boxes
hanging from their waists. Amongst the kings and their families were
men of fifty, forty, thirty, and twenty years of age. Some had long and
some short beards. The servants and camel-drivers were dressed much
more simply, some wearing only one piece of stuff or an old blanket.
Figure 18. Two of the three kings: Theokeno and Seir.
When the camels had been watered, fed, and stabled, the travelers,
after drinking, made a fire in the middle of the shed under which they
had camped. The firewood consisted of pieces some two and a half feet
long brought by poor people from near by in very neat bundles; they
seemed to have a store of it ready for travelers. The kings made a
triangular fireplace and piled up the long pieces round it, leaving an
opening on one side for the draught. It was very cleverly arranged. I
am not sure how they made fire: I saw that one of them kept turning one
piece of wood in another, as if in a box, and then pulled it out
alight. They then lit the fire, and I saw them kill some of the birds
and roast them. Each of the three kings acted towards his tribe like
the head of a family: he distributed the food, laying the carved-up
birds and little loaves of bread on small howls or plates standing on
short feet, and handed them round. In the same way he filled the
goblets and gave drink to each. The lower servants, among whom there
were Moors, lie on a blanket on the ground at one side of the fire,
patiently awaiting their turn. They, too, receive their due share. I
think that these are slaves.
O, how touching is the good temper and childlike simplicity of these
beloved kings! They give to those who come to them a share of all they
have; they even hold the golden vessels to their lips and let them
drink out of them, like children.
6. ABOUT THE HOMELANDS AND LENGTHS OF THE JOURNEYS OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
Today I learnt much about the holy kings, including the names of their
countries and cities, but in my helpless and agitated condition I have
quite forgotten everything. I will tell what I know. Mensor, the
brown-skinned one, was a Chaldean; his city had a name like Acajaja
[120] and was surrounded by a river, like an island. Mensor spent all
his time in the fields with his herds. Seir, the dark-skinned one, was
on Christmas night all ready to start on his journey from home. The
name of his country is connected in my memory with the sound
Partherme.' [121] Beyond his country, and higher up, was a lake or sea.
It was only he and his tribe who were so brown, with red lips; the
people round were white. His country was quite small, no bigger than
the province of Muenster.
Theokeno, the pale one, came from a country still higher up, called
Media, lying between two seas. [122] I have forgotten the name of the
city in which he lived; it was an assemblage of tents erected on
foundations of stones. Theokeno, the richest of the three, was the one
who left most behind him. I believe that he could have taken a more
direct way to Bethlehem, and had to make a detour in order to travel in
company with the others. I almost think that he had to go by Babylon to
join them.
Seir, the dark-skinned one, lived three days' journey from the home of
Mensor, the brown one, and Theokeno five days' journey. Each day's
journey was reckoned as lasting twelve hours. Mensor and Seir were
together in the former's camp when they saw the vision of the star of
Jesus' Birth, and started off the next day with their followers.
Theokeno, the pale one, saw the same vision in his home, and hurried
after them in great haste, catching up with the other two in the
deserted city. I did know the length of their journey to Bethlehem, but
have partly forgotten it. What I remember, more or less, is that their
journey was about 700 hours and still another figure with six in it.
They had about sixty days' journey, each reckoned at twelve hours, but
they performed it in thirty-three days owing to the great speed of
their beasts and to their often traveling day and night.
The star which led them was really like a round ball with light
streaming out of it as from a mouth. It always seemed to me as if this
ball, which was as it were swinging on a shaft of light, was guided by
the hand of a supernatural being. In the daytime I saw a light brighter
than daylight going before them. If one considers the distance they had
to travel, the speed of their journey seems astonishing, but the pace
of their beasts was so light and even that I see them moving onward
with the order, rapidity, and rhythm of a flight of migrating birds.
The homes of the three kings were at the three points of a triangle.
Mensor, the brown one, and Seir, the dark, lived nearer to each other
than Theokeno, the pale one, who was the farthest away of the three.
They have, I think, already passed Chaldar where I once saw the
enclosed garden in the temple. Theokeno's distant city has only its
foundations of stone; above, it
is all tents. There is water round it. It seems to me about the size of
Muenster.
After the kings had rested here until the evening, the people who had
attached themselves to their company helped them to pack their baggage
onto their beasts, and then carried home with them everything that was
left behind. It was towards evening when they started off. The star was
visible and was today reddish in color, like the moon in windy weather.
Its long tail of light was pale. They went on foot for a while beside
their beasts with uncovered heads, praying. On this part of the way it
was impossible to go fast. Later on, when they came to level ground,
they mounted their beasts, which moved at a very quick pace. Sometimes
they went more slowly, and then they all sang as they journeyed through
the night; it was very moving to hear.
7. NIGHT TRAVEL OF THE KINGS.
[November 29 ^th to December 2 ^nd:] I was again with the kings on
their journey in the night of Thursday, November 29 ^th, and during the
following day. I cannot say enough how much I admired the order,
nobility, and joyfulness which inspires all that they do. We are
journeying through the night, always following the star, whose long
tail reaches down to earth. These good men follow it with their eyes
quietly and joyfully, talking to each other from their high saddles.
Sometimes they sing short sentences by turns, in a very slow and
beautiful melody, sometimes very high and sometimes deep in tone. It is
very moving to hear it in the quiet night, and I feel all that they
sing. They travel with perfect orderliness; first comes a big camel
with boxes on each side of his hump covered with large carpets on which
sits the leader with a goad in his hand and a sack at his side. Then
follow smaller beasts, such as horses or big donkeys, carrying packages
and ridden by the men belonging to this leader. Then comes another of
the leaders on a camel and so on. The creatures walk so delicately with
big steps, and put down their feet as if they were trying not to crush
anything.
They carry their burdens with so little motion that it seems as though
only their legs were alive, and the carriage of their heads on their
long necks is wonderfully calm and quiet. The men, too, seem to do
everything without having to take thought about it. Everything happens
as in a quiet dream, peaceful and sweet. (I cannot help reflecting here
how these good people, who as yet do not know the Lord, journey towards
Him in such order, peace, and sweetness, while we, whom He has redeemed
and loaded with graces, are so disorderly and disrespectful in our
processions!) I think the region through which they passed tonight
might well be the district between Atom, the home of Azarias, and the
castle of the idolater, where I saw Jesus at the end of the third year
of His ministry when He was journeying through Arabia on His way to
Egypt.
On Friday, November 30 ^th, I saw the procession halting at night by a
fountain in the fields. A man from a hut, of which there were several
near by, opened the fountain for them. They watered their beasts and
rested for a short time without unloading. On Saturday, December 1 ^st,
I saw the kings, whose road had been going uphill the day before, on
higher ground. On their right was a mountain range, and when their road
descended again, they seemed to be in a place where houses, trees, and
fountains often stood beside the road. It seemed to me to be the home
of the people whom I had seen, last year and again lately, spinning and
weaving cotton. They had stretched the threads between the trees and
plaited broad coverings out of them. They worshipped images of oxen.
They were generous in giving food to the rabble that followed the
procession of the kings, but it surprised me to see that they never
used the bowls again from which these had eaten.
On Sunday, December 2 ^nd, I saw the three holy kings near a place
whose name I remember as something like Causur, a city of tents on
stone foundations. [123] They were given hospitality here by another
king, to whom this city belonged. His tent-dwelling stood a little
distance before it. Since their meeting in the deserted city, they had
now traveled fifty-three or sixty-three hours. They told the king of
Causur all that they had seen in the stars. He was very astonished, and
looked through a tube at the star that was guiding them and saw in it a
little child with a cross. He begged them to tell him everything on
their return, when he would erect altars to the King and make
sacrifices to Him. I am curious to see if he will keep his word when
they return. I heard them recounting to him the origin of their
star-watching, and remember of their conversation what follows.
8. THE ANCESTORS OF THE KINGS. THEIR STAR OBSERVATIONS - JACOB'S LADDER AND ITS
PROPHESIES.
The ancestors of the kings descended from Job, who once lived in the
Caucasus and possessed other far-off lands [124] About 1,500 years
before the birth of Christ only one tribe of them remained there. The
prophet Balaam came from that region, [125] and one of his disciples
spread abroad and expounded in that land his master's prophecy, A star
shall rise out of Jacob [see Numbers 24.17]. He had many followers, and
they built a high tower upon a mountain, where many wise men and those
learned in the stars lived by turns. I have seen that tower; it was
like a mountain itself, broad at the base and pointed at the top. I
saw, too, the openings in it where they lived. All that they discovered
in the stars was noted and handed down by word of mouth. There were
times when this observation of the stars fell into disuse owing to
various happenings, and later it degenerated into the idolatrous horror
of sacrificing children in order to hasten the coming of the promised
Child.
About 500 years before the birth of Christ the observation of the stars
had lapsed. At this time the race consisted of three tribes, founded by
three brothers who lived with their families apart from each other.
They had three daughters to whom God had given the spirit of prophecy
and who wandered about the land in long cloaks prophesying, and
teaching about the star and the Child that was to come out of Jacob. In
this way the observation of the stars and the longing for the Child was
again revived in these three tribes. The three holy kings were
descended from these three brothers in a direct line of fifteen
generations, covering some 500 years. Their complexions had, however,
become different from each other as the result of intermarriage with
other races.
For 500 years the ancestors of the kings had met at a building which
they shared in common for the observation of the stars. According to
what they saw, various alterations were made in their temple and its
services. Unfortunately, for a long time they continued to sacrifice
children and other human beings. As they watched the stars, they were
shown in wonderful visions all the special events and times connected
with the coming of the Messiah. I saw many of these visions as they
conversed, but can no longer describe them clearly. Since Mary's
conception, fifteen years before, these visions had pointed ever more
distinctly to the nearness of the Child. At last they had seen several
indications of the Passion of Jesus.
They were able to calculate very exactly the coming of the star
prophesied by Balaam, for they had seen Jacob's Ladder and were able to
reckon precisely, as in a calendar, the approach of our salvation by
the number of rungs in the ladder and by the pictures appearing on
each. The end of the ladder led to the star, which was the uppermost
picture on it. They saw Jacob's Ladder as a tree in the midst of which
three rows of rungs were fastened, and on these appeared a series of
pictures which they saw in the star as each was fulfilled, so they knew
exactly which must be the next picture, and the intervals between the
pictures told them how long they must wait for it. At the time of
Mary's conception they had seen the Virgin holding a scepter and an
evenly balanced scales with wheat and grapes. [Please refer to Figure
19.] A little below her they saw the Virgin with the Child. They saw
Bethlehem as a beautiful palace, a house where much blessing was stored
and distributed. In it they saw the Virgin and Child surrounded by a
great glory of light, and many kings bowing before Him and making
offerings to Him. They also saw the heavenly Jerusalem, but between it
and Bethlehem was a dark street, full of thorns, strife, and blood.
All this was real to them. They thought that glory such as this
surrounded the newborn King, and that all peoples were bowing before
Him; that was why they came, bringing their gifts with them. They took
the heavenly Jerusalem to be His earthly kingdom and thought they would
come to it. The dark street they thought meant their own journey, or
that some war was threatening the King; they did not know that it meant
His Via Dolorosa. At the foot of the ladder they saw (as did I) an
elaborate tower, like the one I saw on the mountain of the Prophet.
They saw how the Virgin once took refuge in a storm under a projecting
portion of this tower, which had many entrances. I cannot remember what
this signified. (Perhaps the Flight into Egypt.) There was a whole
series of pictures on this Jacob's Ladder, amongst others many
prophetic symbols of the Blessed Virgin, such as the sealed fountain
and the enclosed garden. There were also pictures of kings, some
holding out scepters, and others, branches to each other.
All these pictures they saw appearing in their turn in the stars as
they were fulfilled. In the last three nights they saw these pictures
continuously. The chief one of the three sent messengers to the others,
and when they saw the picture of the kings making offerings to the
newborn Child, they hurried on their way with their rich gifts, not
wishing to be the last to arrive. All the tribes of the star-gazers had
seen the star, but these were the only ones who followed it. The star
which went before them was not the comet, but a shining brilliance
borne by an angel. By day they followed the angel.
Figure 19. Vision of the three kings at the time of Mary's conception.
Because of all this they were full of expectation as they journeyed,
and were afterwards astonished to find nothing like it. They were
dismayed by Herod's reception of them and by the ignorance of all men
about these things. When they came to Bethlehem and saw a desolate
cellar instead of the glorious palace they had seen in the star, great
doubt assailed them; but they remained true to their faith, and at the
sight of Jesus they realized that all they had seen in the stars was
fulfilled.
These observations of the stars were accompanied by fasting, prayer,
religious ceremonies, and various forms of self-denial and
purification. The visions did not come from looking at one single star,
but from a grouping of certain separate stars. This star-worship
exercised an evil influence on those who had a tendency towards evil.
Such people were seized with violent convulsions in their star-gazing,
and it was they who were responsible for the misguided sacrifices of
children. Others, like the three holy kings, saw the pictures clearly
and calmly, in a spirit of inner piety, and grew ever better and more
devout.
9. THE KINGS TRAIN IS AUGMENTED WITH OTHER TRAVELERS.
[December 3 ^rd to 5 ^th:] When the kings left Causur, I saw that they
were joined by a considerable number of distinguished travelers who
were going the same way. On December 3 ^rd and 4 ^th I saw them
crossing a wide plain. On the 5 ^th they rested by a fountain but
without unloading. They watered and fed their beasts and prepared food
for themselves.
[In the last few days Catherine Emmerich while asleep in the evening
often sang several short verses with very strange and moving melodies.
When she was asked the reason for this, she said:] I am singing with my
dear kings, they sing with great sweetness many short verses, such as:
Over the hills let us make our way Our homage to the new King to pay.
They take it in turn to invent and sing these verses: one begins, and
the others repeat the verse he has sung. Then another starts another
verse, and so as they ride along they keep up their sweet and heartfelt
singing.
In the heart of the star, or rather of the globe of light, which went
before them to show them the way, I saw the appearance of a Child with
a Cross. When they saw the appearance of the Virgin in the stars at the
birth of Jesus, this globe of light appeared in front of the picture
and suddenly began to move gently forward.
10. THE BLESSED VIRGIN FORESEES THE APPROACH OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
[December 5 ^th:] Mary had had a vision of the approach of the three
holy kings while they were resting in the tent of the king of Causur.
She also saw that the latter intended to erect an altar in honor of her
Child. She told this to St. Joseph and Elizabeth, and asked that they
should clear out the Cave of the Nativity and make everything ready in
time for the reception of the kings.
The people because of whom Mary had yesterday retreated into the other
cave were visitors who had come out of curiosity. There were many such
in the last few days. Today Elizabeth went home to Juttah with a
servant who came to fetch her.
[December 6 ^th to 8 ^th:] These were quieter days in the Cave of the
Nativity, and the Holy Family was generally alone. Only Mary's
maidservant, a robust, serious, and unpretentious person of some thirty
years, was there. She was a childless widow, related to Anna, who had
given her a home. Her late husband had been very severe with her
because she went so often to the Essenes, for she was very devout and
was hoping for the salvation of Israel. So he was angry with her, just
as today bad men are angry because their wives go to church too often.
He left her and afterwards died.
In the last few days there came no more of those insistent beggars who
had demanded alms at the cave with curses and abuse. They were on their
way to Jerusalem for the Maccabees' Feast of the Consecration of the
Temple. [126] This feast really begins on the 25 ^th day of the month
Kislev, but as this fell on the evening of Friday, December 7 ^th, in
the year of Jesus' birth, that is to say, on the eve of the Sabbath, it
was postponed to the evening of Saturday, December 8 ^th, or the 26 ^th
day of Kislev. It lasted eight days.
(Thus the sixth day after the Circumcision was the 25 ^th day of
Kislev, so that the Circumcision happened on the nineteenth day of
Kislev, and Jesus' birth on the twelfth day of Kislev.)
Joseph kept the Sabbath under the lamp in the Cave of the Nativity with
Mary and the maidservant. On Saturday evening the Feast of the
Consecration of the Temple began. Joseph had fastened lamp-brackets, in
three places in the cave, on each of which he lit seven little lamps.
All is quiet now; the many visitors came because they were on their way
to the festival. The nurse came to Mary every day now. Anna often sends
messengers with presents who take news back to her. Jewish women do not
suckle their children for long without other nourishment, and even when
He was only a few days old the Infant Jesus was given a pap made of the
pith of some rush which is light, nourishing, and sweet to taste. In
the day-time the donkey is generally outside at pasture and only spends
the night in the cave.
11. JOSEPH CELEBRATES THE FEAST OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE.
[December 10 ^th:] Yesterday, Sunday, December 9 ^th, I did not see the
nurse coming to the cave any more. Joseph lights his little lamps for
the Consecration feast every morning and evening. It is very quiet here
since the feast began in Jerusalem.
Today a manservant came from Anna. He brought the Blessed Virgin,
amongst other things, materials for making a girdle, and a most
beautiful little basket of fruit, covered over with fresh roses among
the fruit. The basket was high and narrow, and the color of the roses
different from ours: it was paler, almost flesh-colored. There were
also big yellow and white roses, some open, and some in bud. Mary
seemed delighted with them and placed the basket beside her.
[Journey of the kings:] In the last few days I often saw the kings on
their journey. The road was more hilly, and they came over the hills
which I had seen covered with little pieces of stone like broken
pottery. I should very much like to have some of them; they are so
beautifully smooth. On other mountains in that region are many white
transparent stones like birds' eggs, and a quantity of white sand. I
saw the kings now in the place where they afterwards lived when Jesus
visited them in the third year of His ministry. They were not in the
city of tents, for at that time it did not exist.
12. JOSEPH WANTS TO SETTLE DOWN IN BETHLEHEM.
[December 11 ^th to 13 ^th:] It seems to me as if Joseph would like to
stay in Bethlehem and live there with Mary after the Purification. I
think he was looking out for a house there. About three days ago some
rather distinguished people came to the cave from Bethlehem; they
wanted to take the Holy Family into their house. Mary hid herself from
them in the other cave, and Joseph declined their offer. Anna is soon
going to visit the Blessed Virgin. I saw her very busy lately, dividing
up her herds again for the poor and for the Temple. The Holy Family,
too, always gave away at once whatever they had. The Consecration
festival was still celebrated every morning and evening, but on the 13
^th a new festival must have started. I saw various alterations being
made in the festival in Jerusalem. I saw the windows in many houses
being closed and curtained. I also saw a priest with a scroll in the
cave with Joseph. They were praying together at a little table hung
with white and red. It was as if he had wanted to see whether Joseph
was keeping the feast, or as if he was announcing a new feast to him.
[It seemed to her to be a feast day, but she also thought that the
feast of the new moon must now have begun. She was uncertain about
this.] The Crib was quiet in these last few days, without visitors.
13. END OF THE FEAST OF THE CONSECRATION OF THE TEMPLE.
[December 14 ^th to 18 ^th: With the Sabbath the Feast of the
Consecration of the Temple came to an end, and Joseph ceased lighting
the little lamps. On Sunday the 16 ^th and Monday the 17 ^th people
from the neighborhood once more came to the Crib. The unruly beggars,
too, were heard at the entrance. This was because people were now
returning from the festival.
On the 17 ^th two servants came from Anna with food and other things.
Mary is much quicker than I am in distributing things, and everything
was soon given away. I see Joseph beginning to tidy and clear up in the
Cave of the Nativity, the side-caves, and grave of Maraha, and he has
brought in provisions. They are awaiting Anna's visit, and Mary is
expecting the kings to arrive soon.
[December 17 ^th:] Today, late in the evening, I saw the kings arrive
in a little town of scattered houses, many of which were surrounded by
high fences. It seemed to me that this was the first Jewish town they
came to. Bethlehem was in a straight line from here, but they went off
to the right, I suppose because the only road led in that direction.
[127] As they approached this place they sang particularly loudly and
beautifully, and were full of joy, for the star shone unusually
brightly here. It was like moonlight and one could see quite clearly
the shadows which it cast. The inhabitants seemed either not to see the
star or to take no special interest in it, but they were good people
and extremely helpful. Some of the travelers had dismounted, and the
inhabitants helped them to water their beasts. (It made me think of
Abraham's times, when all men were so good and helpful.) Several of the
inhabitants, bearing branches, led the travelers through the town and
went some of the way with them. I did not see the star always shining
brightly before them; sometimes it was quite dim. It seemed to shine
more brightly in places where good people lived, and when the travelers
saw that it was very brilliant, they were greatly excited and thought
that perhaps the Messiah might be in that place.
[December 18 ^th:] This morning they passed by a dark, misty city
without stopping, and soon after crossed a river flowing into the Dead
Sea. In the last two places many of the rabble which had followed them
stayed behind. (I had a distinct impression that someone had taken
refuge in one of these two places in a conflict before the reign of
Solomon. [128] ) They crossed the river this morning and now came on to
a good road.
14. THE TRAIN OF THE KINGS. ARRIVAL IN MANATHEA.
[December 19 ^th to 21 ^st:] This evening I saw the kings on this side
of this river. [129] Their generosity had attracted so many followers
that their train must have numbered 200. They were nearing the town
which was approached by Jesus on its western side on July 31 ^st in the
second year of His ministry, though He did not enter it. Its name
sounded like Manathea, Metanea, Medana, or Madian. [130] It had a mixed
population of heathens and Jews; they were evil people, and though a
high road led through the town, they would not let the kings go
through. They led them outside the town, on the eastern side, to a
place enclosed by walls, where there were sheds and stables. The kings
put up their tents here, fed and watered their beasts, and prepared a
meal for themselves.
On Thursday the 20 ^th and Friday the 21 ^st I saw the kings resting
here, but they were greatly distressed because here, as in the last
town, nobody knew or cared about the newborn King. I heard them telling
the inhabitants in a very friendly way a great deal about the cause of
their long journey and all the circumstances attending it. Of what I
heard I recollect this much.
They had received the announcement about the newborn King a very long
time ago. I think it must have been not long after Job's time and
before Abraham went to Egypt, when an army of some three thousand Medes
from Job's country (they lived in other parts as well) came as far as
the region of Heliopolis in a campaign against Egypt. [131] I cannot
now clearly recollect why they had advanced so far, but I think their
campaign was in aid of someone. It was not, however, for a good
purpose, they were attacking something holy; whether holy men or a
religious mystery connected with the fulfillment of the promise, I
cannot remember. Near Heliopolis an angel appeared to several of their
leaders at once, warning them to go no farther. He spoke to them of a
Redeemer who was to be born of a Virgin and would be worshipped by
their descendants. This was connected, I cannot remember how, with a
command that they should advance no farther but should go home and
observe the stars. After this I saw them arranging joyful feasts in
Egypt, setting up triumphal arches and altars, and decorating them with
flowers. Then they went home. They were Median star-worshippers,
exceptionally tall, almost like giants, of very noble stature and of a
beautiful yellowish-brown color. They journeyed with their herds from
place to place and imposed their will everywhere by their great
strength. I have forgotten the name of their chief prophet. They were
much given to prophesying and the taking of omens from animals. Often
on their journeys animals would suddenly place themselves across their
road, standing with outstretched legs and letting themselves be killed
rather than go away. That was an omen for them, and they turned away
from these roads. The kings said that these Medes, returning from
Egypt, were the first to bring the prophecy and to start the watching
of the stars. When they passed away, it was continued by a disciple of
Balaam and renewed 1,000 years after him by the three
prophetess-daughters of the three kings who founded their dynasties.
Now, 500 years after them, the star had come which they were following
in order to adore the newborn King. All this they explained to the
inquisitive listeners with the most child-like sincerity, and were
distressed that they did not seem at all to believe in what their
ancestors had so patiently waited for during 2,000 years. In the
evening the star was covered in mist, but when it appeared again at
night large and clear between moving clouds, they rose from their camp
and awoke the inhabitants living near to show them the star. These
gazed in wonder at the sky, and some showed emotion; but many of them
were vexed with the kings, and in general they merely sought to take
advantage of their generosity.
I heard the kings saying what a long way they had traveled from their
first meeting-place to here. They reckoned by day's journeys on foot,
each of twelve hours. But their beasts, which were dromedaries and were
faster than horses, enabled them to do thirty-six hours' journey each
twenty-four hours, including the rest-hours. Thus the most distant of
the three kings was able to accomplish his sixty hours' journey to the
meeting-place in two days, and the two who were nearer did their
thirty-six hours' journey in a day and a night. From the meeting-place
to where they were now they had traveled 672 hours' journey, and had
spent about twenty-five days and nights since starting off at the
moment of the Birth of Christ.
[December 20 ^th and 21 ^st:] The kings and their train rested here
both these days, and I heard what they told. On the evening of Friday
the 21 ^st the Jews who lived here began their Sabbath and crossed a
bridge leading westwards across the water to a small Jewish village
with a synagogue. At the same time the kings prepared for their
departure and made their farewells. I noticed that the inhabitants
looked at the star (when visible) which led the kings and expressed
much astonishment, but it did not make them more respectful. They were
shamelessly importunate, pestering the kings like swarms of wasps. In
reply to their demands the kings with great forbearance gave them
little triangular pieces of their gold and also grains of some darker
metal. They must have been very rich.
They were escorted by the inhabitants when they left. Skirting the
wails of the town (in which I saw temples surmounted by idols), they
crossed the river by a bridge, and passed through the Jewish village,
hurrying on towards the Jordan by a good road. From here they still had
about twenty-four hours' journey to Jerusalem.
15. ST. ANNE JOURNEYS TO BETHLEHEM.
[December 19 ^th to 22 ^nd:] On the evening of December 19 ^th, I saw
Anna, accompanied by her second husband, Mary Heli, a maid, and a
manservant with two donkeys, stopping for the night not far from
Bethany on their way to Bethlehem.
Joseph has finished the arrangements which he has been making in the
Cave of the Nativity and in the side-caves in order to receive both the
guests from Nazareth and the kings, whose arrival Mary had foreseen a
short while ago when they were at Causur. Joseph and Mary had moved
with the Infant Jesus into the other cave. The Cave of the Nativity had
been entirely cleared out, and only the donkey, I saw, had been left in
it. Even the fireplace and the things for preparing food had been moved
out. Joseph had, if I remember rightly, already paid his second tax.
There were again many inquisitive visitors coming to Mary from
Bethlehem to see the Child. Some He allowed to take Him in their arms,
from others He turned away crying. I saw the Blessed Virgin calm and
peaceful in the new dwelling, which had now been arranged very
comfortably. Her couch was against the wall. The Infant Jesus lay
beside her in a long basket woven from broad strips of bark; it had a
shelter for the head and stood on trestles. The Blessed Virgin's couch
with Jesus' cradle was separated from the rest of the room by a wicker
screen. In the daytime, except when she wished to be alone, she sat in
front of this screen with the Child beside her. Joseph's resting-place
was some way off at the side of the cave, and was divided off in the
same way. A vessel holding a lamp stood on a piece of wood projecting
from the wall high enough to light both these screened-off partitions.
I saw Joseph bringing the Blessed Virgin a bowl of food and a jug of
water.
[December 20 ^th:] This evening was the beginning of a fast. All the
food for the next day was prepared beforehand, the fire was covered
over, the openings of the cave hung with curtains, and all the
household utensils put away. (The 8 ^th and 16 ^th days of the month
Shebat are Jewish fast days.) Anna has come to the cave with her second
husband, Mary's elder sister, and a maidservant. I had seen Anna on her
journey several days before. These visitors were to sleep in the Cave
of the Nativity; this was why the Holy Family had moved into the
side-cave, though the donkey had remained behind. Today I saw Mary lay
the Infant in her mother's arms; Anna was greatly moved. She had
brought with her coverlets, clothes, and provisions. Anna's maidservant
was strangely dressed. [Please refer to Figure 20.] Her hair was
plaited and hung down to her girdle in a net; she had on a short dress
reaching only to the knees. Her pointed bodice was fastened tightly
round her hips and breast; it came high up above the latter as if to
make a place for hiding something. She carried a basket hanging on her
arm. The old man (Anna's husband) was very shy and humble. Anna slept
where Elizabeth had slept, and Mary told her everything, as she had
Elizabeth, in happy intimacy. Anna wept with the Blessed Virgin; they
often interrupted their talk to caress the Infant Jesus.
[December 21 ^st:] Today I saw the Blessed Virgin once more in the Cave
of the Nativity and little Jesus once more in the crib. When Joseph and
Mary are alone with the little Child, I often see them adoring Him; and
now I see Anna and the Blessed Virgin standing by the Crib with bowed
heads, and gazing at the Infant Jesus with great devotion. I am not
quite sure whether Anna's companions slept in the other cave or whether
they had gone away. I almost think they had gone. Today I saw that Anna
had brought the Mother and Child various things such as coverlets and
swaddling-bands. Since she came here, Mary has been given a good many
things; but she has very little of anything, because she at once gives
away anything that is not absolutely necessary. I heard her telling
Anna that the kings out of the East would soon be coming, bringing
great gifts, and that this would cause a great sensation. I think that
while the kings are on their way here, Anna will go to her sister,
three hours' distance from here, and come back later.
[December 22 ^nd:] This evening, after the Sabbath had ended, I saw
Anna and her companions going away from the Blessed Virgin for a little
time. She went three hours' journey away from here, to the Tribe of
Benjamin, to a younger married sister who lived there. I do not
remember the name of the village, which consisted only of a few houses
and a field. It is half an hour away from the last resting-place of the
Holy Family on their journey to Bethlehem, where Joseph's relations
lived. They spent the night of November 22 ^nd/23 ^rd there.
Figure 20. Saint Anne's maid.
16. THE TRAIN OF THE KINGS CROSSES THE JORDON.
The kings and their train left Mathanea and hurried through the night,
following a high-road. They passed through no more towns, but skirted
all the little places in which, at the end of July in the third year of
His ministry, Jesus blessed the children and healed and taught; for
example, Bethabara, [132] the place of the ferry across the Jordan,
which they reached early in the morning. As it was the Sabbath, they
met few people on their way.
Early in the morning, at seven o'clock, I saw them crossing the Jordan.
Generally people were ferried across the river on a raft of beams, but
for large companies a sort of bridge was put together. This was
generally done by the ferrymen who lived on the bank and received
payment for it, but as these could not work on the Sabbath the
travelers did it themselves, with the help of some of the ferrymen's
heathen servants, who were paid for it. The Jordan was not broad here
and was full of sand-banks. Planks were placed against the raft
generally used for crossing, and the camels were led up them onto the
raft. I saw that this sort of bridge was ferried backwards and forwards
till all the train were landed on the western bank. It was quite a long
time before all were safely across.
[In the evening at half-past five, she said:] They have left Jericho on
their right and are now in a direct line with Bethlehem, but are
turning more to the right in the direction of Jerusalem. There must be
as many as a hundred men with them. In the distance I see a little
town, which I know, beside a stream coming from Jerusalem in an
eastward direction. I am sure they will have to pass through this town.
They go on for some time with the stream on their left hand. I saw
Jerusalem as they went; it sank out of sight and reappeared as the road
rose or fell. [Later she said:] They did not pass through that town
after all; they turned to the right towards Jerusalem.
Today [Saturday evening, December 22 ^nd] I saw the three holy kings
and their train arriving before Jerusalem. I saw the city towering up
to heaven. The guiding star had here almost disappeared; it had become
quite small and glowed only dimly behind the city. The travelers became
more and more depressed the nearer they came to Jerusalem, for the star
was not nearly so bright before them, and in Judea they saw it but
seldom. They had expected, too, to find everywhere great rejoicings and
festivities at the newborn Savior, for whose sake they had made so long
a journey. When, however, they found nowhere the smallest trace of
excitement about Him, they were distressed and full of doubts, thinking
that they had perhaps gone completely astray.
Their train numbered, I am sure, more than 200 men, and took a quarter
of an hour to pass by. A distinguished company had joined them as far
back as Causur, and since then others had been added. The three kings
rode on dromedaries (camels with two humps), with baggage all round
them, and there were three other loaded dromedaries with their riders.
Each king was accompanied by four men of his tribe; among them I
noticed two young men (one of them was Azarias of Atom), whom I saw
later as fathers of families when Jesus visited Arabia. The rest of the
company rode mostly on very swift yellowish animals with delicate
heads; I am not sure whether these were horses or donkeys. They looked
quite different from our horses. The ones ridden by the more
distinguished persons had richly ornamented saddles and bridles, and
were hung with little gold chains and stars. Some of the company went
up to the gate of the city and came back accompanied by guards and
soldiers. Their arrival by this road with so large a train caused great
surprise, as there was no festival and they were bringing no
merchandise with them. When questioned, they explained why they had
come, speaking of the star and the newborn child, but not a soul there
understood what they were talking about. This depressed them extremely;
they thought that they must certainly have made a mistake, for they
could find nobody here who seemed to know anything about the Savior of
the World. Everyone gazed at them in astonishment, and could not
understand what they wanted. However, the gate-keepers went back into
the city to report when they saw the generous alms given so kindly to
the importunate beggars, and heard not only that the kings sought a
lodging and would pay liberally, but also that they asked to speak with
King Herod. Then followed an exchange of reports, messages, inquiries,
and explanations between the kings and the authorities. While this was
going on, the kings talked with the various people who had collected
round them. Some of them had heard a rumor of a child said to have been
born at Bethlehem, but it could not, they said, be He, for His parents
were common people and poor. Others only laughed at them; and as they
gathered, from what little the people said, that Herod knew nothing of
a newborn child, and that, in general, they had no very high opinion of
Herod, they became even more dejected, for they were troubled in their
minds as to how to deal with the matter when speaking to Herod.
However, calming themselves, they fell to praying and took courage
again, saying to each other: He who has led us here so quickly by the
star will bring us happily home again.
When the gate-keepers at last came back, the kings and their train were
taken round the outside of the city walls for some way and brought into
it through a gate near Mount Calvary. They and their baggage-animals
were taken to a circular enclosure not far from the fish market. It was
surrounded by houses and stables, and there were guards at the
entrances. The animals were taken into the stables, while the kings
established themselves in sheds near a fountain in the center of the
court. The baggage-animals were watered at this fountain. One side of
this circular court was on the slope of a hill; the two other sides
were open, with trees in front.
Officials now came two by two with torches and examined what the kings
had in their baggage. I suppose they were customs officers.
17. THEOKENO IS SUMMONED TO HEROD'S PALACE.
Herod's palace was on higher ground, not far from here, and I saw the
way there illuminated with torches and braziers on poles. Herod sent a
servant down and caused the oldest of the kings, Theokeno, to be
brought to his palace in secret. It was after ten o'clock at night. He
was received in a lower room by one of Herod's courtiers and questioned
as to the object of his journey. He related everything in the most
childlike manner, and begged him to ask Herod where to find the newborn
King of the Jews whose star they had seen and followed in order to
worship Him. When the courtier reported this to Herod, he was much
startled, but he dissembled and sent in reply a message saying that he
would cause inquiries to be made, but that in the meantime the kings
were to rest: early next morning he would speak with them all himself
and tell them what he had discovered. Theokeno was thus unable to give
his companions any special encouragement when he returned to them, and
they made no preparations for resting, but on the contrary ordered the
repacking of much that had been unpacked. I did not see them sleeping
that night at all; they were wandering about separately in the city
with guides, looking at the sky as if they were seeking for their star.
In Jerusalem itself all was quiet, but there was much talk and coming
and going at the guard-house before the court. The kings were of the
opinion that Herod probably knew everything but wished to keep it
secret from them.
Herod was giving a feast when Theokeno was in the palace; the rooms
were illuminated and full of guests, among them brazen-faced women in
fine dresses. Theokeno's questions about a newborn King disturbed Herod
greatly, and he at once summoned all the high priests and scribes. I
saw them coming to him with their scrolls before midnight, wearing
their priestly vestments and breast-plates and their girdles with
letters. I saw as many as twenty of them about him. He asked them where
Christ was to be born. I saw them unrolling their scrolls before him
and answering, pointing with their fingers: In Bethlehem of Judah, for
so it is written by the prophet Micah: "And you Bethlehem in the land
of Judah are not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of you
shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel."' Then I
saw Herod walking about on the roof of the palace with some of them and
looking in vain for the star of which Theokeno had spoken. He was in a
strange state of unrest, but the learned priests made every effort to
persuade him not to pay any attention to what the kings had said. These
romantic people, they said, were always full of fantastic ideas about
their stars; if such a thing had really happened, Herod and they
themselves, in the Temple in the Holy City, would of course be the
first to know of it.
18. THE THREE HOLY KINGS APPEAR BEFORE HEROD.
[Sunday, December 23 ^rd:] Very early this morning Herod secretly
summoned the three kings to his palace. [133] They were received under
an archway and taken into a room, where I saw green branches and bushes
arranged in vases to welcome them, with some refreshments. They
remained standing for a while until Herod came in, and then, after
bowing before him, they again asked him about the newborn King of the
Jews. Herod concealed his uneasiness as well as he could and even
pretended to be overjoyed. He still had some of the scribes with him.
He inquired of the kings as to what they had seen, and Mensor described
to him the last picture they had seen in the stars before setting off
on their journey. This, he said, was a Virgin with a Child before her:
on the right-hand side of the picture a branch of light grew forth,
bearing on it a tower with several gates. This tower had grown into a
great city, over which the Child had appeared as a king with crown,
sword, and scepter. They had then seen themselves and the kings of the
whole world come and bow down before the Child in adoration, for His
kingdom was to conquer all other kingdoms. Herod told them that a
prophecy of this kind about Bethlehem Ephrata did indeed exist and
asked them to go there at once very quietly, and when they had found
and adored the Child, to come back and bring him word, that he, too,
might go and adore Him. The kings, who had not touched any of the food
set out for them by Herod, went back again. It was very early, for I
saw the torches in front of the palace still alight. Herod spoke to
them in secret because of all the talk in the city. The day then began
to break, and they made all preparations for their departure. The
stragglers who had followed them to Jerusalem had dispersed about the
city the night before.
19. HEROD'S STATE OF MIND - A MURDER.
Herod was in a state of ill-humor and vexation in these days. At the
time of Christ's birth he had been in his palace near Jericho and had
committed a vile murder. He had insinuated adherents of his into the
higher posts of the Temple to find out what was going on there so as to
warn him of anyone opposed to his designs. One of these in particular
was a high official in the Temple, a good and upright man. He invited
this man with friendly words to visit him at Jericho, but caused him to
be waylaid and murdered in the desert on his way there, making it
appear as the work of robbers. A few days later he came to Jerusalem in
order to take part in the feast of the dedication of the Temple on the
25 ^th day of the month Kislev, and there he became involved in a very
disagreeable affair. He wanted to do something in his own way which
would please the Jews and do them honor. He had a golden image made of
a lamb, or rather of a kid, for it had horns. This was to be set up for
the festival over the gate leading from the outer court of the women
into the Court of Sacrifice. He proposed to force this arrangement on
the Jews and yet expected to be thanked for it. The priests opposed it,
so he threatened them with fines, whereupon they declared that they
would pay the fine, but that their law forbade them ever to accept the
image. Herod, bitterly angered, tried to put up the image in secret;
but when it was brought into the Temple, it was seized by a zealous
official and flung to the ground, so that it broke in two. [134] A
tumult ensued, and Herod had the official imprisoned. This affair had
so angered him that he regretted coming to the feast. His courtiers
endeavored to distract him with all kinds of entertainments.
Now came the rumors of Christ's birth to add to Herod's uneasiness. Of
late there had arisen among certain devout Jews a lively sense of the
near approach of the Messiah. The events attending the birth of Jesus
had been spread abroad by the shepherds, but all this was looked on by
important people as nonsensical gossip. It had come to Herod's ears,
and he had secretly made inquiries at Bethlehem. His messengers came to
the Crib three days after Christ's birth [see above, p. 102 ], and
after talking with St. Joseph, a poor man, they reported, as all
arrogant people like them are wont to do, that there was nothing to be
seen but a poor family in a miserable cave, and that the whole thing
was not worth talking about. To begin with, they were too arrogant to
talk properly to St. Joseph, all the more as they had been warned not
to cause any sensation. Now, however, Herod was suddenly confronted by
the three kings and their numerous company, and was filled with fear
and dismay, for they came from a long way off and their story could not
be dismissed as idle talk. When however they inquired so particularly
about the newborn King, he feigned a desire to worship Him too, much to
their joy. He was in no way reassured by the blind arrogance of the
scribes, and was determined in his own interests that the event should
remain as unnoticed as possible. He did not at once oppose the
statements made to him by the kings, nor did he at once lay hands on
Jesus, for by so doing he feared to give the impression to the people
(who were already in a difficult frame of mind) that the kings'
announcement was true and of serious consequence to himself. He
therefore planned to gain more accurate information from the kings
before taking steps himself about it. When the kings, warned by God,
failed to return to him, he announced that their flight was a proof
that they had either been disappointed in their search or had been
lying. He caused it to be spread abroad that they had been ashamed and
afraid to come back, because they had so greatly deceived themselves
and others; what other reason could there be for their secret flight,
when they had been received by him in so friendly a manner? In this way
he stopped all further rumors and merely let it be known in Bethlehem
that no one should have anything to do with that family and that no
attention should be paid to misleading rumors and imaginations. When
the Holy Family returned to Nazareth a fortnight later, it put an end
to the talk about an event which had never become clearly known to most
people. The devout ones hoped in silence. When all was calm once more,
Herod planned to do away with Jesus, but heard that the family with the
Child had now left Nazareth. For a long time he caused search to be
made for the Child, and when he was forced to give up hope of finding
Him, his anxiety increased, and he had recourse to the desperate
measure of the Massacre of the Innocents. He took stringent precautions
and ordered a number of troop movements in order to prevent any
insurrection. I think the children were murdered in seven different
places.
20. THE HOLY THREE KINGS GO TO BETHLEHEM. THEY REST BY A SPRING.
I saw the kings and their train moving southwards out of the city gate.
A crowd of people followed them as far as a brook outside the walls,
and then, turned back. After crossing the stream, the kings made a
short halt to look for their star. When they saw it they broke into
cries of joy, and went on their journey, singing their sweet songs. The
star did not lead them by the direct road to Bethlehem, but by a
westerly detour. They passed by a little town I know well, and towards
midday I saw them stop in a pleasant place near a little village behind
the town. A spring of water burst forth before their eyes, at which
they were overjoyed. They dismounted and hollowed out a basin round the
spring, surrounding it with clean sand, stones, and turf. They stayed
several hours here, watering and feeding their beasts, and refreshing
themselves with food; for in Jerusalem they had been too disturbed and
anxious to rest. In later years I saw Our Lord stopping sometimes by
this spring with His disciples and teaching there.
The star, which at night shone like a ball of fire, now looked like the
moon in daylight. It was not a perfect round, but had as it were a
jagged edge; I often saw it hidden by clouds.
The direct road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem was full of travelers with
donkeys and baggage, probably returning home from Bethlehem after the
taxation, or going to the market or the Temple in Jerusalem. The way
taken by the kings was very quiet, and no doubt God led them by it so
that they should not cause too much sensation and should not arrive in
Bethlehem before the evening. When the sun was already low, I saw them
starting off again. They traveled in the same order as when they first
met. Mensor, the brownish one and the youngest, went first; then came
Seir, the dark-brown one; and then Theokeno, the white-skinned one and
the eldest.
21. ARRIVAL OF THE THREE KINGS AT THE TAX-COLLECTION HOUSE IN BETHLEHEM.
Today, Sunday, December 23 ^rd, at dusk, I saw the three holy kings and
their train arrive at the same building outside Bethlehem where Joseph
and Mary had been registered. It was the former ancestral house of
David of which some masonry still remained; once it had belonged to
Joseph's parents. It was a large house with several smaller ones round
it; in front of it was a closed court, giving on to an open place with
trees and a fountain. In this place I saw Roman soldiers; they were
there because of the tax office which was in the building. When the
kings and their train arrived, a crowd of inquisitive onlookers began
pressing round them. The star had disappeared, and they were somewhat
uneasy. Some men came up to them and questioned them. They dismounted,
and were met by officials from the house bearing branches, who offered
them a light refreshment of bread, fruit, and drink. This was a usual
welcome for strangers like these. Meanwhile I saw their beasts being
watered at the fountain under the trees. I thought to myself: these
strangers are more courteously received than poor Joseph, because of
the little gold pieces they distribute. They were told that the
Shepherds' Valley was a good camping-place, but remained for some time
undecided. I did not hear them ask for the newborn King of the Jews;
they knew that according to the prophecy this was the place, but
because of what Herod had said to them they were afraid of causing any
comment. When, however, they saw a light shining in the sky beside
Bethlehem, as though the moon were rising, they mounted again and rode
beside a ditch and some ruined walls round the south side of Bethlehem
towards the east, approaching the Cave of the Nativity from the field
where the angels had appeared to the shepherds. On entering the valley
behind the cave, near the grave of Maraha, they dismounted, and their
people unpacked much of the luggage and set up a great tent which they
had with them. They made all arrangements for an encampment with the
help of some shepherds, who had pointed out the places to them.
The camp had been partly arranged when the kings saw the star appear
bright and clear above the hill where the Cave of the Nativity was, the
light that streamed from it descending in a vertical line onto the
hill. [135] The star seemed to grow larger as it drew near until it
became a body of light which looked to me as big as a sheet. I saw them
at first gazing at it in great astonishment. It was already dark; they
saw no house, only the outline of a hill, like a rampart. Suddenly they
were filled with great joy, for they saw in the radiance the shining
figure of a Child, like the one they had seen before in the star. All
bared their heads in obeisance, and the three kings, going up to the
hill, found the door of the cave. Mensor opened the door and saw the
cave full of heavenly light, and, in the back of it, the Virgin sitting
with the Child, just as they had seen them in their visions. He went
back at once and told this to his companions; in the meantime Joseph,
accompanied by an aged shepherd, came out of the cave to meet them.
They told him, in childlike simplicity, how they had come to adore the
newborn King of the Jews, whose star they had seen, and to bring Him
gifts. Joseph welcomed them warmly, and the old shepherd accompanied
them to their encampment and helped them with their arrangements; some
of the shepherds who were there gave them the use of some sheds. They
themselves prepared for the solemn ceremony that was before them. I saw
them putting on big white cloaks with long trains. The material had a
yellowish sheen, like raw silk, and was beautifully fine and light.
They wore these fluttering robes for all their religious ceremonies.
All three wore girdles on which many pouches and gold boxes (like
sugar-basins with knobs) were suspended by little chains among the
ample folds of their cloaks. Each of the kings was followed by four
members of his family. Besides these there Were several of Mensor's
servants holding a small tablet like a tray, a rug with tassels, and
some strips of thin stuff.
They followed St. Joseph in an ordered procession to the shelter at the
entrance of the cave, where they covered the tray with the tasseled
rug. Each king then placed on it some of the golden boxes and vessels
which he took from his girdle; this was the offering which they made in
common. Mensor and all the others took their sandals from off their
feet, while Joseph opened the door of the cave. Two youths from
Mensor's following went before him, spreading out a strip of stuff on
the floor of the cave before his feet and then retiring. Two others
came close behind him with the tray of presents, which he took from
them when he was before the Blessed Virgin, and falling on his knee
placed them at her feet on a low stand. Those who had carried the tray
went back. Behind Mensor stood the four members of his family, humbly
bowing down. Seir and Theokeno with their followers stood at the
entrance and under the shelter outside. They were all as though drunk
with ecstasy and seemed transfused by the light which filled the cave,
though no light was there save the Light of the World.
Mary was lying, rather than sitting, on a carpet to the left of the
Infant Jesus; she was leaning on her arm. The Child lay in a trough
covered with a rug and raised on a high stand, opposite the entrance to
the cave and at the place where He was born. As the kings entered, the
Blessed Virgin raised herself into a sitting position, covered herself
with a veil, and took the Infant Jesus onto her lap under her ample
veil. When Mensor knelt down and spoke touching words of homage as he
put down his presents, humbly bowing his bared head and crossing his
hands on his breast, Mary undid the red-and-white wrappings from the
upper part of the Child's body, which gleamed softly from behind her
veil. She supported His head with one hand and held Him with the other.
He was holding His little hands before His breast as if in prayer. He
was shining with welcome, and now and then made friendly little
gestures with His hands.
O what heavenly peace surrounds the prayers of these good men from the
East! As I saw them, I said to myself: how clear and untroubled are
their hearts, as full of goodness and innocence as the hearts of pious
children. There is nothing violent in them, and yet they are all fire
and love. I am dead; I am a spirit; otherwise, I could not see it, for
it is not happening now--and yet it is now, for it is not in time; in
God is no time, in God everything is present. I am dead. I am a spirit.
As these strange thoughts came to me, I heard myself being told: What
is that to you? Be not troubled, look, and praise the Lord who is
eternal and in whom are all things.'
I now saw Mensor bringing out of a pouch hanging at his girdle a
handful of little thick shining bars. They were as long as one's
finger, pointed at the top, and speckled with little gold-colored
grains in the middle. He offered these to the Blessed Virgin as his
gift, laying them humbly on her knee beside the Child. She accepted the
gold with loving gratitude, and covered it with a corner of her cloak.
These little bars of natural gold were Mensor's gift, because he was
full of fidelity and love and was seeking for the holy truth with
unshaken fervor and devotion. He then withdrew with his four
companions, and Seir, the dark-brown one, came forward with his
following and, falling with great humility on both knees, offered his
present with touching words of homage. This was a little golden
incense-boat full of little greenish grains of gum, which he laid on
the table before the Infant Jesus. Incense was his gift because he
embraced the will of God, and followed it willingly, reverently, and
lovingly. He knelt there for a long time with deep devotion before
withdrawing. After him, came Theokeno, the white-skinned one, and the
oldest. He was very old and heavy and was not able to kneel down; but
he stood bowing low and placed on the table a golden vessel containing
a delicate green plant. It seemed to be rooted; it was a tiny green
upright tree, very delicate, bearing curly foliage with little delicate
white flowers. It was myrrh. His gift was myrrh, because it symbolizes
mortification and the overcoming of passions; for this good man had
conquered extreme temptations to commit idolatry, polygamy, and to give
way to violence. He remained standing in deep emotion before the Infant
Jesus with his attendants for a very long time, and I grew sorry for
the other servants before the Crib having to wait so long to see the
Child. The addresses made by the kings and their followers were
extremely touching and childlike. As they knelt down and offered their
presents, they said: We have seen His star, we have seen that He is
king over all kings, and we come to worship Him and to pay Him homage
with our gifts'--or something like this. They seemed to be in an
ecstasy, and with childlike and rapturous prayers committed to the
Infant Jesus themselves and their families, their lands and their
peoples, all their goods and possessions and everything of value that
they owned. They besought the newborn King to accept their hearts and
souls and all their thoughts and deeds, begging Him to enlighten them
and to grant them every virtue and, while they were on earth,
happiness, peace, and love. While thus praying, they were overflowing
with loving humility; and tears of joy coursed down their cheeks and
beards. They were blissfully happy; they thought that they had now
reached the very star for which their ancestors had watched for
centuries with faithful yearning. All the joy of promises fulfilled
after many centuries was theirs.
The Mother of God accepted all these gifts with humble gratitude. At
first she said nothing, but a gentle movement under her veil showed the
joy and emotion that she felt. The Child's bare body, which she had
wrapped in her veil, seemed to shine from under her cloak. Afterwards
she spoke a few, friendly, humble words of gratitude to each king,
throwing her veil back a little as she did so. Ah, I said to myself, I
have been given another lesson. With what sweet and loving gratitude
she accepts each gift--she, who needs naught, who possesses Jesus
Himself, accepts with humility every loving gift. From this I can
surely learn how loving gifts should be received; I, too, in future
will accept every kindness with thankfulness and all humility. How kind
Mary and Joseph are; they kept nothing at all for themselves, but gave
it all away to the poor.
When the kings with their attendants had left the cave and gone to
their encampment, their servants came in. They had put up the tent,
unloaded the baggage animals, and, after arranging everything, were
waiting in patient humility before the entrance. There must have been
at least thirty of them, as well as a host of boys who had nothing on
but loin-cloths and little cloaks. The servants always came in fives,
led by one of the important personages to whom they belonged. They
knelt round the Child and venerated Him in silence. Afterwards the boys
came in all together, knelt round and worshipped the Infant Jesus with
childlike innocence and joy. The servants did not stay long in the
cave, for the kings came back again, making a solemn entry this time.
They had put on other cloaks of thin stuff which floated round them in
ample folds; they carried censers in their hands and censed with great
reverence the Child and the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph and the whole
cave, withdrawing afterwards with low obeisances. This was a customary
form of worship amongst these people.
During all this Mary and Joseph were as full of sweet joy as I ever saw
them; tears of happiness often ran down their cheeks. The recognition
and solemn veneration of the Infant Jesus, whom they had been obliged
to lodge so poorly, and whose infinite glory was a secret hidden in
their humble hearts, brought them endless consolation. By God's
almighty Providence, they saw the Child of the Promise being given, in
spite of the blindness of mankind, what they themselves could not give
him: the worship of the great ones of the earth with all the sacred
splendor due to Him, prepared since centuries and sent from a far
country. They worshipped Jesus with the holy kings, happy in the honor
paid to Him.
The kings' encampment was set up in the valley behind the cave,
stretching as far as the tomb of Maraha. The beasts of burden were
fastened in rows to posts between ropes. Beside the big tent, which was
near the hill of the Cave of the Nativity, was an enclosure roofed with
mats where part of the baggage was stored, though most of it was taken
into Maraha's tomb. The stars had come out when all had left the Crib,
and they all assembled in a circle near the old terebinth tree which
stood above Maraha's tomb and there, with solemn hymns, held their
service to the stars. I cannot express how movingly their singing
echoed through the quiet valley. For so many centuries their forebears
had gazed at the stars, prayed, and sung; and today all their yearning
was fulfilled. They sang in raptures of gratitude and joy.
22. JOSEPH ENTERTAINS THE THREE HOLY KINGS.
Meanwhile Joseph, helped by two of the old shepherds, had set out a
light meal in the kings' tent. They brought plates with bread, fruit,
honey-comb, bowls with vegetables, and flasks of balsam, arranging it
all on a low table on a carpet. Joseph had got together all these
provisions for the kings in the morning, having been forewarned of
their arrival by the Blessed Virgin. When the kings and the members of
their families returned to the tent after their evening hymn, I saw
Joseph receiving them with great friendliness and begging them to be
his guests and accept this modest meal. He reclined among them round
the low table as they ate. He was not at all shy, and was so happy that
he shed tears of joy. (When I saw this, I thought of how my dead
father, who was a poor peasant, was obliged to sit at table with so
many grand people when I was clothed at the convent. He was very humble
and simple and had dreaded this sorely, but afterwards he was so happy
that he wept for joy. Without wanting it he became the guest
of honor.) After this slight meal Joseph left them. Some of the more
important persons accompanying the kings betook themselves to an inn at
Bethlehem, the others lay down to rest on their couches spread out in a
circle in the big tent.
When Joseph returned to the Crib, he put all the presents in a corner
of the wall to the right of the Crib, placing a screen before it so
that what was kept there could not be seen. Anna's maidservant, who had
remained behind to wait on the Blessed Virgin, had stayed all this time
in the small side-cave, of which the door was in the entrance to the
Cave of the Nativity. She did not come out until all had left the Crib.
She was very serious and modest. I never saw either the Holy Family or
this maidservant showing any worldly pleasure at the sight of the
kings' gifts. Everything was accepted with humble gratitude, and given
away again with gentle charity.
When the kings had arrived that evening at the tax-collecting office in
Bethlehem, I had seen a certain amount of disturbance there and much
movement in the town. Some people followed the kings to the Valley of
the Shepherds, but soon came back again. Afterwards, while the kings,
radiant with holy joy, were worshipping and offering their gifts at the
Crib, I saw some Jews lurking at a distance in the country round and
murmuring angrily, and then going about in Bethlehem spreading all
kinds of rumors. These miserable men made me shed bitter tears; I was
grieved at heart for the evil people who, nowadays as in those distant
times, stand about muttering and grumbling and spreading lies in their
wrath; salvation is so close to them, and they thrust it from them. How
unlike they are to the good kings who, in their trusting faith in the
Promise, have come from so far and have found salvation. How I pity the
hard-hearted and blind!
In Jerusalem during this day I saw Herod again with several scribes.
They were reading from scrolls and talking of the statement made by the
kings. Afterwards it was no more spoken of, as though the whole matter
were to be ignored.
23. THE KINGS VISIT WITH THE HOLY FAMILY AGAIN. THEIR GENEROSITY TO THE
SHEPHERDS.
[December 24 ^th:] Very early today I saw the kings and some of their
followers pay separate visits to the Infant Jesus and the Blessed
Virgin. During the whole day I saw them busy in their camp beside their
beasts of burden distributing all kinds of things. They were full of
joy and happiness, and gave away many gifts, as I have always seen done
on joyful occasions. The shepherds who had rendered services to the
kings and their train were given many presents, and I saw many poor
people receiving gifts. I saw them hanging coverlets over the shoulders
of some poor old women who crept up to them all bent. Several of the
kings' followers took a great liking to the Shepherds' Valley, wishing
to stay there and join the shepherds. They submitted this wish to the
kings, who allowed them to leave their service and gave them rich
presents. They were given blankets, household utensils, grains of gold,
and also the donkeys on which they had ridden. When I saw the kings
distributing a quantity of bread, I at first wondered where so much
bread came from. Then I remembered having seen that sometimes, when
they halted, they used their provision of flour to bake little thin
flat loaves like rusks in iron moulds, which they carried with them.
These loaves they packed tightly in light leather boxes, which they
hung on their pack animals. Today many people came from Bethlehem and
pestered the kings for gifts of all kinds. Some of these searched their
baggage, and on various pretexts made greedy demands of them. Here, and
in Jerusalem too, the sensation caused by their numerous following had
been a great annoyance to the kings. They had arrived in a kind of
triumphal procession, thinking to find general rejoicings over the
newborn King, but after what had happened they now resolved to start
their return journey quietly and with a smaller following, which would
enable them to travel more rapidly. They therefore dismissed today many
of their followers; some of whom remained behind in the Valley of the
Shepherds, while others went on ahead to meeting-places arranged
beforehand. I was surprised to see how much their train had diminished
by the evening. The kings no doubt intended to travel the next day to
Jerusalem and to tell Herod that they had found the Child; but they
wanted to do this more quietly, and this was why they sent many on
ahead, thus making the journey easier. They and their dromedaries could
overtake them without difficulty.
In the evening they went to the Crib to say farewell. Mensor went in
first, alone. Mary placed the Infant Jesus in his arms; he shed tears
and his face was shining with joy. After him the two others came and
wept as they said farewell. They brought vet more gifts, many pieces of
different stuffs, some looking like undyed silk, some red and some with
flowered patterns, and a number of beautiful thin coverlets; they also
left behind their ample, thin cloaks. These were pale yellow and seemed
to be woven of the finest wool; they were so light that they moved with
every breath of air. They also brought many bowls standing one on the
other, and boxes filled with grains, and a basket with pots of little
delicate green bushes with small white flowers. There were three of
these in the center of each pot, so arranged that another pot could be
placed on the edge; the pots were built up above each other in the
basket. This was myrrh. They also gave Joseph long narrow baskets
containing birds; they had had a number of these hanging on their
dromedaries for killing and eating.
They all shed many tears when they left the Child and Mary. I saw the
Blessed Virgin standing up beside them as they said farewell. She held
the Infant Jesus in her arms wrapped in her veil, and went a few steps
with the kings towards the (hoar of the cave. There she stood still,
and in order to give these holy men a remembrance, she took from her
head the thin yellow veil covering the Infant Jesus and herself and
handed it to Mensor. The kings received this gift with deep obeisances,
and their hearts overflowed with awe and gratitude when they saw the
Blessed Virgin standing before them unveiled with the Infant Jesus.
They were weeping with joy as they left the cave. Henceforth the veil
was the holiest treasure that they possessed.
The manner in which the Blessed Virgin accepted presents, although it
did not show pleasure in the things themselves,
was particularly touching in its humility and in its real gratitude
towards the giver. During this wonderful visit I saw in her no trace of
self-interest, except that to begin with, out of love for the Infant
Jesus and out of pity for Joseph, she allowed herself in all simplicity
the joy of hoping that now they might perhaps find a shelter in
Bethlehem and not be so contemptuously treated as on their arrival. She
had been truly sorry for Joseph's distress and confusion at this.
After the kings had said farewell it grew dark, and the lamp was lit in
the cave. The kings went with their followers to the great old
terebinth tree above Maraha's grave, there to hold their evening
service as they had the day before. A lamp was burning beneath the
tree. When they saw the stars coming out, they prayed and sang their
sweet songs. The voices of the boys sounded particularly lovely among
the others. After this they went into their tent, where Joseph had once
more prepared a light meal for them; and then some returned to the inn
in Bethlehem, while the rest lay down in the tent.
24. DEPARTURE OF THE KINGS.
At midnight I suddenly saw a vision. I saw the kings lying asleep in
their tent on rugs, and I saw the appearance of a shining youth among
them. It was an angel. Their lamp was burning, and I saw them sitting
up, half asleep. The angel woke them and told them to leave
immediately, and not to go by Jerusalem but through the desert round
the Dead Sea. They sprang in haste from their couches; some hurried to
rouse their followers one went to the cave and woke St. Joseph, who
hastened to Bethlehem to summon those who were in the inn. These,
however, met him on his way there, for they had had the same vision.
The tent was taken down, packed, and the rest of the encampment
removed, all with wonderful speed. While the kings were taking once
more a touching farewell of Joseph before the Crib, their followers
were already hurrying southwards through the desert of Engaddi along
the shores (If the Dead Sea. They traveled in separate parties so as to
progress more quickly.
The kings begged that the Holy Family should fly with them, for danger
most certainly threatened them, or at least that Mary should hide
herself with the Child so as not to be molested because of them. They
cried like children, embracing Joseph and speaking in the most moving
manner. Then they mounted their dromedaries, which carried but little
baggage, and hastened away across the desert. I saw the angel with them
out in the fields, showing them their way; they seemed to be gone in an
instant. They took different ways, about a quarter of an hour's
distance apart from each other. First they went for an hour towards the
east, and then southwards into the desert. Their way home led through
the region which Jesus traversed on His return from Egypt in the third
year of His ministry.
__________________________________________________________________
[113] Communicated in 1821. Matt. 2.1-12.
[114] The names of the three kings as given by AC, Mensor, Seir, and
Theokeno, find no documentary parallel, nor is there anywhere any
information about their homelands or their subsequent history (infra,
p. 114 ). The apocryphal Protev. 21 adds nothing to St. Matthew's
account. For latter names, see n. 120, p. 111 . (SB)
[115] Hagar and Ishmael: Gen. 21.14-21. (SB)
[116] No such visit of Our Lord to the abode of the three kings in
Arabia is recorded in the Gospels. (SB)
[117] She saw the procession of the kings passing through this town on
the feast of St. Saturninus (Nov. 27th) of whom she possesses a relic;
that is why she mentioned his connection with this place. The writer
read later in the legend of this saint in Fleurs des Vies Saintes that
Saturninus preached the Gospel in Asia as far as Media. (CB)
[118] There is no available evidence about the martyr Eleazar. (SB)
[119] According to the Ramsgate Book of Saints (1947), the names
Melchior, Kaspar, and Balthasar were attributed to the Magi in the
eighth century. The names themselves are not known before this,
although Balthasar appears as a by-form of Belshazzar ( Dan. 5.1),
which is a pagan Babylonian name Bel-shar-usur (Bel protect the king'),
and Melchior, if a Hebrew name Malki-or, could mean My king is light'.
The meanings given by AC are most obscure. The Legenda Aurea (Jan. 6th)
gives their names as Appellius, Amerius, and Damascus in Greek;
Galgalat, Malgalat, and Sarathin in Hebrew; and Melchior, Kaspar, and
Balthasar in Latin; and adds that their bodies were found by Helena and
taken to Constantinople, whence later to Milan, and finally to Cologne.
(SB)
[120] In 1839, eighteen years after this word Acajaja was pronounced by
Catherine Emmerich, the writer found in Funke's dictionary:
"Achajacula, a castle on an island in the Euphrates in Mesopotamia
(Ammian, 24, 2)" (CB) The reference is to the history by Ammianus
Marcellinus covering the twenty-six years from Constantius to Valens,
entitled Res Gestae, in thirty-one books of which eighteen are extant.
The twenty-fourth book deals with the campaigns of the Emperor Julian
(A.D. 363), and in XXIV, ii, 2, the place Achaiachala, an island
fortress in the river Euphrates, is mentioned. (SB)
[121] The name Partherme is otherwise unknown. It occurs again (of the
same land), infra, p. 173 . (SB)
[122] It would seem that Mensor, the Chaldean, was from Mesopotamia,
Theokeno from Media (Persia), and Seir from the mountain country
between Mesopotamia and Persia. But the geographical information is not
precise enough to determine anything. (SB)
[123] Perhaps Geshur in Syria', Absalom's retreat in 2 Kings ( Sam.)
15.8. Fahsel notes Geshur, a Roman garrison town on the road from
Damascus to Galilee, just south of Mount Hermon. (SB)
[124] The Bible tells us nothing whatever about the historical setting
of the Book of Job, except that Job lived in the land of Hus (or
Uz)'--a place otherwise unknown. But see further in n. 173, p. 154 .
(SB)
[125] That Balaam should come from a northern land is no surprise in
view of Num. 22.5 in the Hebrew text, where we read that the king of
Moab "sent messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by
the river of his people's land", and this Pethor is usually identified
with Pitru of the Assyrian inscriptions, a city on the Euphrates (cf.
Cath. Comm., 206d). (The Vulgate reads soothsayer' for Pethor, and
Ammon' for his people'.) Balaam's remote and pagan origin makes him a
character of particular interest in the history of Israel. (SB)
[126] Maccabean Dedication Feast; cf. supra , n. 53, p. 37 . (SB)
[127] Medeba is about eighteen miles north of the brook Arnon, which
flows into the Dead Sea, and Bethlehem lies due west from here across
the Dead Sea, so that travelers would have to turn north to go round
it. (SB)
[128] Medeba was the scene of David's battle with the Ammonites ( 1
Chr. 19.7), and also (but after Solomon's time) one of the cities
captured during the revolt of Mesha, King of Moab (IV Kings 3.4 sqq.,
Isa. 15.2). as recorded on the Moabite Stone. (SB)
[129] Since the Arnon flows east to west, we should understand northern
side' here. (SB)
[130] St. Jerome mentions a Methane near Arnon, which gave its name to
the Mathanites. See 1 Chr. 11.43. (CB) Nothing else is recorded in the
Bible about the Mathanites. Fahsel marks a village Madian on the north
bank of the Arnon. (SB)
[131] According to AC (infra, p. 120 ) this took place about 1500 B.C.,
when Medes (?) from Job's country' (the Caucasus according to AC)
invaded Egypt. Is this to be identified with the Hittite invasions in
the Amarna period (14th cent. B.C.)? (SB)
[132] Bethabara (thus named by AC) (= place of crossing') by the lord
an is mentioned in some codices of John 1.28 (where John was
baptizing'), while other codices have Bethania (= place of the
ship')--probably two names for the same place. (SB)
[133] That the second visit of the Magi to Herod was in private is
recorded in Matt. 2.7. (SB)
[134] This is probably the same story as that recorded by Josephus
(BJ., I, xxxiii, 2-4): Herod had put up a golden eagle over the main
gate of the Temple. Some young Jews climbed up at noonday and smashed
it with axes. About forty men were arrested. (SB)
[135] Cf. Matt. 2.9: The star came and stood over where the child was.'
__________________________________________________________________
XIV. THE HOLY FAMILY IN BETHLEHEM AFTER THE DEPARTURE OF THE KINGS.
1. MEASURES TAKEN IN BETHLEHEM AGAINST THE KINGS. JOSEPH IS EXAMINED AND
BLACKMAILED.
[December 25 ^th:] The angel had warned the kings just in time, for the
authorities in Bethlehem--perhaps on a Secret order from Herod, but I
think from their own zeal of office--meant to arrest today the kings
who were sleeping in the inn at Bethlehem and to imprison them in the
cellars deep under the synagogue. They were then going to denounce them
to Herod as disturbers of the peace. However, when their departure
became known this morning, they were already near Engaddi, and the
valley where they had encamped was quiet and deserted as usual, with
nothing but the trodden grass and a few tent-poles to show that they
had been there. In the meantime the appearance in Bethlehem of the
kings and their train had caused a considerable stir. Some regretted
that they had refused Joseph a lodging; others said that the kings were
strange fanatical adventurers; while others connected their arrival
with the rumors of what the shepherds had seen. The authorities of the
place (perhaps as the result of a warning from Herod, but of this I am
not sure) decided that steps must be taken to deal with the situation.
In the center of the town, in an open place with a fountain surrounded
by trees, I saw near the synagogue a large house with steps leading up
to it. All the inhabitants were summoned to the square in front of the
house, and I saw a warning or command being given to them from the
steps. They were told that all perverse talk and superstitious rumors
must be stopped, and from now onwards there must be no more running
backwards and forwards outside the town to the dwelling of the people
who had been the cause of all this talk. After the assembled people had
dispersed, I saw St. Joseph summoned by two men and being examined in
that house by some aged Jews. I saw him go back to the Crib and then
again go to the court-house. When he went there the second time, he
took with him some of the gold from the kings' gifts and gave it to
them, upon which they let him go in peace. It seemed to me that the
whole examination was a sort of blackmail. I saw, too, that a path
leading towards the Crib was blocked by the authorities by felling a
tree across it. This was not the path through the town-gate, but the
one which led over a hill or rampart to the Cave of the Nativity from
the place where Mary had waited under a big tree on arriving at
Bethlehem. They even put up a guard-house by the tree, and stretched
ropes across the road which were attached to a bell in the guard-house,
so that they could hold up anyone who tried to pass. In the afternoon I
saw a band of sixteen of Herod's soldiers talking to Joseph; they were
probably sent on account of the kings, who had been accused of being
disturbers of the peace. Finding, however, everything quiet and lonely,
with nobody but a poor family in the cave, and having been warned not
to alarm these in any way, they went quietly back to report what they
had found. The presents and other things left by the kings had been
hidden away by Joseph partly in Maraha's grave and partly' in some
secret places in the hill of the Cave of the Nativity, which he knew of
since his boyhood when he had often hidden there from his brothers.
These separate hiding-places dated from the time of the patriarch
Jacob, who had once set up his tents here on this hill. At that time
there were only a few tents on the site of Bethlehem.
This evening I saw Zechariah of Hebron coming to see the Holy Family
for the first time. Mary was still in the cave. He wept with joy, took
the Infant Jesus in his arms, and repeated (in part or somewhat
altered) the hymn of praise which he had uttered at the circumcision of
John.
2. ST. ANNE RETURNS WITH ELIUD.
[December 26 ^th:] Today Zechariah went away again, but Anna came back
to visit the Holy Family with her eldest daughter, her second husband
and the maidservant. Anna's eldest daughter is bigger than her mother
and really looks older than Anna. Anna's second husband is taller and
older than Joachim was. His name is Eliud, and he had a post at the
Temple connected with the supervision of the sacrificial animals. Anna
had a daughter by him, also called Mary. At Christ's birth she must
have been six or eight years old. This Eliud died soon after this, and
it was God's will that Anna should marry for the third time. Of this
marriage there was a son, who was called one of Christ's brethren.
The maidservant brought by Anna from Nazareth a week ago is still with
the Blessed Virgin. While the Blessed Virgin was living in the Cave of
the Nativity, this maidservant lived in the little cave at the side;
but now, as Mary is in the cave at the side, the maidservant sleeps
under a shelter put up for her by Joseph in front of the cave. Anna and
her companions sleep in the Cave of the Nativity.
The Holy Family is now deeply joyful. Anna is blissfully happy. Mary
often lays the Infant Jesus in her arms for her to nurse. I did not see
her do that with anyone else. I saw, to my great wonderment, that the
Infant's hair, which is yellow and curly, ends in little fine rays of
light intersecting each other. I think they make his hair curly, for I
see them rubbing his head after washing it. They put a little cloak
round him the while. I always see in the Holy Family the most touching
and devout honor being paid to the Infant Jesus, but it is all quite
simple and human, as it always is with holy and elect ones. The Child
turns to His Mother with love such as I have never seen in one so
young.
Mary told her mother all about the visit of the three holy kings, and
Anna was greatly moved on hearing that the Lord God had summoned them
from so far to acknowledge the Child of the Promise. She was shown the
gifts of the kings, which were hidden in a wicker basket in a covered
niche in the wall. She recognized them as tokens of homage and gazed at
them with deep humility. She helped to give away some of them and to
arrange and pack up the rest. All is now quiet in the neighborhood; all
the paths except the one through the gate of the town have been closed
by the authorities. Joseph no longer goes to Bethlehem for what he
wants; the shepherds bring him everything needful. The kinswoman with
whom Anna stayed in Benjamin is Mara [136] , the daughter of
Elizabeth's sister Rhoda. She is poor, and later had several sons, who
became disciples. One of them was called Nathanael and was later the
bridegroom at Cana. This Mara was present at the Blessed Virgin's death
at Ephesus.
This Nathanael is not the one whom Jesus saw under the fig tree.
Nathanael, Mara's son, was present as a boy at the children's festival
given by Anna for the twelve-year-old Jesus, when He came home after
His first teaching in the Temple. The boy Jesus told on this occasion a
parable of a wedding where water was to be turned into wine, and of
another wedding, where wine was to be turned into blood. He told the
boy Nathanael, as if in jest, that one day He would be present at
Nathanael's wedding. The bride of Cana came from Bethlehem, from
Joseph's family. After the miracle at Cana the bridegroom and the bride
made a mutual vow of continence. Nathanael at once became a disciple
and received the name Amator in baptism. Later he was made a bishop and
was in Edessa; he was also on the island of Crete with Carpus. He then
went to Armenia, and because of the many conversions he made he was
captured and sent into exile to the shores of the Black Sea. On being
set free he came into Mensor's land, where he worked a miracle (which I
have forgotten) on a woman and baptized so many people that he was done
to death, in the city of Acajacuh on an island in the River Euphrates.
[137]
Today Anna sent away her husband Eliud with a loaded donkey and the
maidservant, her relation, with two big packs. She carried one on her
back and one in front. These contain part of the kings' gifts, stuffs
of various kinds and golden vessels, which in later years were used at
the first Christian religious services. They are sending everything
away in secret, for some sort of investigation is always going on about
here. It seems as though they are only taking these things to some
place on the way to Nazareth whence they will be fetched by servants,
for in earlier visions I saw Eliud back in Bethlehem at Anna's
departure thence, which will soon take place. Anna was now alone with
Mary in the side-cave. I saw that they were working together, plaiting
and knitting a coarse blanket. The Cave of the Nativity is now
completely cleared out. Joseph's donkey is hidden behind wicker
screens. Today there were again officers of Herod in Bethlehem,
searching in a number of houses for a newborn child.
3. THE HOLY FAMILY HIDES IN THE BURIAL CAVE OF MARAHA.
Soldiers came, too, looking for a newborn son of a king. They were
particularly persistent in their questioning of a distinguished Jewish
woman who had lately given birth to a son. They did not go near the
Cave of the Nativity; they had been there before and found only a poor
family, so took for granted that it was nothing to do with these. Two
old men, shepherds I think, came to Joseph and warned him of these
inquiries. That was why I saw the Holy Family and Anna escaping into
Maraha's grave with the Infant Jesus. There was nothing left in the
Cave of the Nativity to show that it had been lived in; it looked quite
deserted. I saw them going through the valley in the night with a
covered light. Anna held the Infant Jesus before her in her arms, Mary
and Joseph walking beside her. The shepherds accompanied them, carrying
the blankets and other things to make resting-places for the holy women
and the Infant Jesus. (I had a vision meanwhile; I do not know whether
the Holy Family saw it, too. Round the Infant Jesus at Anna's breast I
saw a glory of seven figures of angels, intertwining and superimposed
on each other. Many other figures appeared in this glory, and beside
Anna, Joseph, and Mary I saw figures of light who seemed to be leading
them by the arms.) On reaching the passage into the cave, they shut the
door and then went into the cave itself and prepared their
resting-places there.
4. JOSEPH TAKES THE BABY JESUS FROM MARY BECAUSE OF DANGER.
[December 27 ^th:] The Blessed Virgin told her mother all about the
three kings, and they looked at all the things that the latter had
yesterday left behind in Maraha's grave. I saw two shepherds come and
warn the Blessed Virgin that people were coming from the authorities to
look for her Child. Mary was in great distress at this, and soon after
I saw St. Joseph come in and take the Infant Jesus from her arms. He
wrapped Him in a cloak and took Him away; I can no longer remember
where to. I now saw the Blessed Virgin for at least half a day alone in
the cave without the Infant Jesus and full of a mother's fear and
anxiety. When the time came near for her to be called to give suck to
the Child, she did as all good mothers are wont to do after being
alarmed or upset: before suckling the Child she pressed out from her
breast the disturbed milk, letting it fall into a little hollow in the
white stone bench in the cave. This she told to a good devout shepherd
who came to her (probably to lead her to the Child). He, deeply
sensible of the holiness of the Mother of the Redeemer, afterwards
scooped carefully out with a sort of spoon the virgin milk enclosed in
the little white hollow of the stone. In his simple faith he brought it
to his wife, who was suckling a child but had not enough milk to feed
it. The good woman drank this holy nourishment with reverent
trustfulness, and at once her faith was rewarded, so that she was able
to feed her child abundantly. Since then the white stone in this cave
was given a similar healing power, and I saw that right up to our own
day even Mohammedans, though unbelievers, use it as a remedy in this as
in other bodily ailments. The earth from this place was for ages
cleansed and pressed into small moulds by the guardians of the Holy
Land and distributed throughout Christendom as a pious remembrance.
These relics bear the inscription de lacte sanctissimae Virginis
Mariae' (of the milk of the Most Holy Virgin Mary').
5. COMMEMORATION OF MARY'S WEDDING.
Joseph did not remain hidden in the grave of Maraha. I saw him making
all sorts of arrangements in the Cave of the Nativity with the two old
shepherds. I saw the shepherds carrying in wreaths of leaves and
flowers, but did not at first know why they were doing this; afterwards
I saw that they were the preparations for a very touching ceremony. I
saw Eliud, Anna's second husband, there once more, and also the
maidservant. They had brought two donkeys with them. They had probably
met Anna's menservants when the latter had come only part of the way
from Nazareth with the animals, and had then sent the men and the
baggage back to Nazareth and brought the donkeys to Bethlehem
themselves. When I saw them on their way back here, I thought for some
time that they were people from an inn outside Jerusalem where I saw
the Holy Family staying later. Joseph had made use of the absence of
the Blessed Virgin in Maraha's grave to decorate the Cave of the
Nativity, with the help of the shepherds, in honor of the anniversary
of their wedding. When all was in order, he fetched the Blessed Virgin
with the Infant Jesus and Anna, and led them into the decorated Cave of
the Nativity. Eliud and the maidservant and the three old shepherds
were already there. How moving it was to see their joy when the Blessed
Virgin carried the Infant Jesus into the cave! The roof and wails of
the cave were hung with wreaths of flowers, and a table was set for a
meal in the center. Some of the three holy kings' beautiful carpets
were spread on the floor and table and hung on the walls. On the table
a pyramid of foliage and flowers rose to an opening in the roof: on the
topmost twig there was a dove which had, I think, been made for the
occasion. I saw the whole cave full of lights and brightness. They had
put the Infant Jesus sitting up in His basket-cradle on a stool. Mary
and Joseph, crowned with wreaths, stood beside Him and drank out of one
goblet. Besides the relations the old shepherds were present. They sang
hymns and partook happily of a light meal. I saw choirs of angels and
heavenly powers appearing in the cave. All present were filled with
emotion and fervor. After this ceremony the Blessed Virgin with the
Infant Jesus and Anna again betook themselves to the grave of Maraha.
6. PREPARATIONS FOR THE DEPARTURE OF THE HOLY FAMILY.
[December 28 ^th to 30 ^th:] In the last few days and again today I
have seen St. Joseph making various preparations for the approaching
departure of the Holy Family from Bethlehem. He got rid every day of
some of his household belongings. He is giving the shepherds all the
light wicker screens and other contrivances for making the cave
comfortable, and they are taking them all away. This afternoon there
were again many people at the cave on their way to Bethlehem for the
Sabbath, but finding it forsaken they soon went on. Anna is going back
to Nazareth after the Sabbath. Today they are arranging and packing up
everything. Anna is taking with her on two donkeys many of the gifts of
the three holy kings, especially carpets, coverings, and stuffs. They
kept the Sabbath this evening in Maraha's grave, and continued keeping
it the next day (Saturday), when all was quiet in the neighborhood.
[Saturday, December 29 ^th:] When the Sabbath was ended, all
preparations were made for the departure for Nazareth of Anna and Eliud
and their servants. Once, and again tonight for the second time, I saw
the Blessed Virgin carry the Infant Jesus in the dark from the grave of
Maraha into the Cave of the Nativity. She laid Him on a carpet at the
place of His birth and knelt down in prayer beside Him. I saw the whole
cave full of heavenly light as at the moment when Our Lord was born. I
think that the dear Mother of God must have seen that, too.
[Sunday, December 30 ^th:] At early dawn I saw Anna, with her husband
and servants, start for Nazareth after taking a tender farewell of the
Holy Family and the three old shepherds. Anna's maidservant went with
them, and I was again astonished by her strange cap, which was almost
like a cuckoo-basket', the name given by our peasant children at home
to a pointed cap they plait from reeds in their games. (The reason why
I thought for some time that Anna's husband and maidservant were people
from the inn outside Jerusalem may have been that I had seen them
spending the night in that inn and conversing with its owners.) They
took all that still remained of the kings' gifts and packed them on
their beasts. While they were doing this, I was very much astonished to
see them taking with them a package belonging to me. I felt that it was
there, and could not at all make out what had induced Anna to take my
property away with her.
__________________________________________________________________
[136] Sometimes A.C. mistook this Mara in the narration with Anna's
younger sister (Maraha) or niece, called Enue. As you read farther, the
terms "brothers" and "sisters" are more frequently used.
[137] Nathanael under the fig tree: John 1.45-51; the Marriage of Cana:
John 1.45-51. Of the subsequent events there is no documentary record,
unless Carpus in Crete is to be identified with St. Paul's friend at
Troas ( II Tim. 4.13). For the city of Acajacuh, see n. 121, p. 114 .
(SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XV. PERSONAL NOTES: RELICS NEARBY THAT THE THREE KINGS HAD GIVEN TO THE HOLY
FAMILY.
Soon after this expression of surprise that Anna should take away from
Bethlehem something belonging to her, Sister Emmerich, the following
dialogue took place between the latter (who was in a visionary state of
great intensity) and the writer.
Sister Emmerich: When Anna went away, she took with her many of the
kings' gifts, especially stuffs. Some of these were used in the first
Christian Church, and pieces have survived until our own time. A piece
of the cloth that covered the little table on which the kings laid
their presents and a piece of one of their cloaks are among my own
relics.' [138] Since some of these relics were in a little cupboard
beside her bed, while others were in the writer's house, he asked: Are
these relics of stuff here?'
Catherine Emmerich: No, over there in the house.'
The writer: In my house?'
Catherine Emmerich: No, in the pilgrim's house (her usual name for the
writer). They are in a little bundle. The piece of the cloak is faded.
People will not believe it, but it is true, all the same, and I see it
before my eyes.' When the writer brought the relics kept in his house
in what might certainly be described as little bundles', she opened one
of these at once and identified a little piece of dark red silk as part
of the kings' stuffs, without, however, giving any more precise
explanation about it. She then said: I am sure I have another little
piece of the kings' stuffs. They had several cloaks: a thick strong one
for bad weather, a yellow one, and a red one of very thin light wool.
These cloaks blew in the wind as they went. At their ceremonies they
wore cloaks of shining undyed silk, embroidered at the edge with gold.
These had long trains which had to be carried. I think that a piece of
a cloak like this must be near me, and that is why tonight and before
that I was watching silk being produced and woven in the country of the
kings. I remember that in an eastern land, between Theokeno's and
Seir's countries, there were trees full of silkworms, with little
ditches of water round each tree to prevent the silkworms from
escaping. I sometimes saw them strewing leaves under the trees, and I
saw little boxes hanging from their branches. Out of these boxes they
took little round things more than a finger in length. I thought, at
first, they were some strange kind of birds' eggs, but I soon saw that
they were the cocoons which the worms had spun round themselves, for I
saw people winding off threads as fine as gossamer. I saw them
fastening a mass of this on their breasts and spinning from it a fine
thread, rolling it up on something they held in their hands. I saw them
also weaving among trees: the loom looked white, it was quite simple,
and the woven stuff must have been about the breadth of my sheet.'
A few days later she said: My doctor has often questioned me about a
piece of very curiously woven silk. A short time ago I saw a similar
piece in my room, but do not know what has become of it. I have been
thinking over it, and realized that I had a vision of the women weaving
silk in a country to the east of the countries of the three kings. It
was in the country that St. Thomas visited. I made a mistake: it does
not belong to the holy kings' stuff, so the pilgrim must cross that
out. Somebody gave it to me as a senseless sort of test, without
considering what I was contemplating internally at that moment: this
causes sad confusion. Now, however, I have seen the relics again and
know where they are. Several years ago I gave a little packet, sewn
together like a knob, to my sister-in-law who lives at Flamske. It was
before her last confinement, and she had begged me for some kind of
holy relic to support her; so I gave her this little bundle, which I
saw shining and as though it had once been in contact with the Mother
of God. I cannot remember whether I looked through its whole contents
at the time, but the good woman got great comfort from it. It contains
a little piece of dark red carpet and two little pieces of thin woven
stuff, like crepe, of the color of raw silk; also a piece of some stuff
like green calico, a tiny piece of wood, and a few little splinters of
white stone. I have sent a message to my sister-in-law to bring them
back to me.'
A few days later her sister-in-law paid her a visit and brought the
little packet, which was about the size of a walnut. The writer undid
it very carefully at home, and separated the remnants of stuff which
were twisted together in it, moistening them and pressing them flat
between the leaves of a book. These consisted of about two square
inches of thick coarse woolen stuff woven in a very faded flowered
pattern, in color dark reddish brown and in places dark purple. There
were also strips, two fingers in length and breadth, of loose, thin
woven stuff like muslin, of the color of raw silk; and a little piece
of wood and a few splinters of stone. In the evening he held the pieces
of stuff, which he had put inside note-paper, in front of her eyes. Not
knowing what it was, she said first: What am I to do with these
letters?' Then, as soon as she had taken the closed letters one by one
in her hand, she said: You must keep that carefully and not allow one
thread of it to be lost. The thick stuff that looks brown now was once
a deep red; it was part of a carpet as big as my room; the servants of
the kings spread it out in the Cave of the Nativity, and Mary sat on it
with the Infant Jesus while the kings swung their censers. Afterwards
she always kept it in the cave, and she put it on the donkey when she
went to Jerusalem for the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the
Temple. The thin crepe-like stuff is a piece of a short cloak of three
separate strips of stuff which the kings wore fastened to their
collars. It was like a ceremonial stole and fluttered over back and
shoulders. It had a fringe with tassels. The splinters of wood and
stone are of a later time: they come from the Promised Land.'
During these days she saw, in her consecutive visions of the Ministry
of Jesus, the events of January 27 ^th in the year of His death. She
saw Our Lord on His way to Bethany in an inn near Bethoron [139] with
seventeen disciples. He taught them about their calling and kept the
Sabbath with them: the lamp was burning the whole day. Among these
disciples is one who has lately followed Him from Sychar. I saw him so
plainly; some of his bones must be among my relics, a little thin white
splinter. His name sounds like Silan or Vilan, those are the letters I
see.' Finally she said: Silvanus', adding after a while: I have once
more seen the little pieces of stuff which I possess belonging to the
three kings. There must be another little bundle there; among its
contents are a piece of King Mensor's cloak, a piece of a red silk
covering which was beside the Holy Sepulcher in old days, and a piece
of the red and white stole of a saint. I also see the little
bone-splinter of the disciple Silvanus in it.' [140] After an interval
of absence of mind, she said: I see now where that little bundle is.
Eighteen months ago I gave it to a woman here to hang round her neck.
She is still wearing it, and I will ask her to give it back to me. She
was so sympathetic when I was arrested [141] that I gave it to her to
wear to console her. I did not then know its exact contents, I only saw
that it shone, that it was a holy relic and had been in contact with
the Mother of God. Now that I have seen everything to do with the three
holy kings so clearly, I recognize everything round me that has to do
with them, including these relics of stuffs. I had forgotten where all
these things were.
A few days later, when the little package returned, she gave it to the
writer to open, as she herself was ill. He undid the little old bundle
(which had been firmly sewn up years before) in the room opening into
Catherine Emmerich's, and found the following objects in it, tightly
wrapped round each other:
(1) A narrow little strip (like a rolled-up hem) of natural-colored
woven material of some very soft wool too fragile and thin to unfold.
(2) Two pieces of yellowish cotton material, loosely woven but quite
strong, a finger in length and half that in breadth.
(3) A square inch of patterned crimson silk material.
(4) A square quarter-inch of silk brocade, yellow and white.
(5) A little piece of green and brown silk material.
(6) In the middle of all this was a folded paper containing a white
stone the size of a pea.
The writer put all these objects in separate pieces of paper, except
No. (6), which he left in its old paper. When he brought them to
Catherine Emmerich, who did not seem to be in a visionary state, she
coughed and complained of violent pains, but then said: What are those
letters you have? They are shining: what treasures we possess, more
valuable than a kingdom.' She then took the closed letters (the
contents of which it was impossible for her to know) one by one,
weighing each in her hand. She was silent for a few moments, as though
looking within herself, and, as she handed each back, gave the
following information about their contents without making a single
mistake (for the writer tested what she said by at once opening the
letters, which were all exactly alike, as she handed them back).
(1) This comes from a coat of Mensor's; it is of very fine wool. It had
armholes and no sleeves. A piece of stuff hung from the shoulder to the
elbow like the half of a slit-up sleeve. She then exactly described the
shape, material, and color of the relic.
(2) This is from a cloak left behind by the kings. She again described
the nature of the relic.
(3) This is a piece of a covering of thick red silk which was spread
out on the floor of the Holy Sepulcher when the Christians were still
in possession of Jerusalem. When the Turks conquered the city, this
silk was still as good as new. It was cut into pieces when the knights
divided everything, and each one received a piece as a remembrance.
(4) This is from the stole of a very holy priest named Alexius. I think
he was a Capuchin, and he was always praying at the Holy Sepulcher. The
Turks mishandled him grievously. They stabled their horses in the
church, and made an old Turkish woman go and stand before the Holy
Sepulcher where he was praying. He paid no attention and went on with
his prayers. Finally they walled him up there, and made the old woman
give him bread and water through an opening. I remember this much from
a great deal that I saw lately when I saw the little bundle and its
contents without knowing for certain where they were.
(5) This is not a holy relic, but is worthy of respect. It is taken
from the seats and benches on which the princes and knights sat in a
circle in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This, like the red silk,
was divided up amongst them.
(6) In this is a little stone from the chapel above the Holy Sepulcher,
and also the little splinter of the bone of Silvanus, the disciple of
Sychar.
When the writer said that there was no bone-splinter in it, she said Go
and look'. He went at once into the next room to the light, opened the
folded-up paper carefully, and found in a fold of it a fine white
splinter of bone, of the thickness of a finger-nail, irregular in shape
and the size of a sixpenny piece, exactly as she had described it. She
recognized it at once. All this happened in the evening in the darkness
of her room. The light was burning in the ante-room.
__________________________________________________________________
[138] Catherine Emmerich was in the highest degree sensitive to the
hidden qualities of all material objects consecrated by the Church, and
in particular to relics of the saints. In the presence of their bones,
or of stuff which they had worn, she was able to give their names and
often the smallest details of their stories. She identified numbers of
relics rescued from destroyed churches, private houses, and even old
curiosity shops, sometimes first telling where they were to be found.
She was given many of these, including two large reliquaries full of
relics from early times, which were presented to her by one of her
spiritual directors. (CB)
[139] Bethoron is about twenty miles north-west of Jerusalem. Cf. n.
64, p. 48 . (SB)
[140] Silvanus: is this St. Paul's friend, called Silas in Acts (55.22,
etc.) and Silvanus by St. Paul ( 1 Thess. 1.1; 2 Cor. 1.19 ) and by St.
Peter ( 1 Peter 5.12 )? (SB)
[141] Arrested'--AC was a nun at the Augustinian Convent at Duelmen,
when in 1812 Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia, closed the convent
and dispersed the nuns, who were compelled to live as seculars and find
refuge in private houses. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XVI. THE PURIFICATION OF MARY [142]
The days being nearly fulfilled when the Blessed Virgin must, according
to the Law, present and redeem her firstborn in the Temple, [143] all
was prepared for the Holy Family's journey first to the Temple and then
to their home in Nazareth. On the evening of Sunday, December 30 ^th,
the shepherds had been given everything left behind by Anna's servants.
The Cave of the Nativity, the side-cave, and Maraha's grave were all
completely swept out and emptied. Joseph left them all quite clean. In
the night of Sunday, December 30 ^th, to Monday, December 31 ^st, I saw
Joseph and Mary with the Child visiting the Cave of the Nativity once
more and taking leave of that holy place. They spread out the kings'
carpet on Jesus' birthplace, laid the Child on it and prayed, and
finally laid it on the place where He had been circumcised, kneeling
down in prayer there, too. At dawn on Monday, December 31 ^st, I saw
the Blessed Virgin mount the donkey, which the old shepherds had
brought to the cave all equipped for the journey. Joseph held the Child
while she settled herself comfortably; then he laid Him in her lap. She
sat sideways on the saddle with her feet on a rather high support,
facing backwards. She held the Child on her lap wrapped in her big veil
and looked down on Him with an expression of great happiness. There
were only a few rugs and small bundles on the donkey. Mary sat between
them. The shepherds accompanied them part of their way before taking a
moving farewell of them. They did not take the way by which they had
come, but went between the Cave of the Nativity and the grave of
Maraha, round the east side of Bethlehem. Nobody noticed them.
[January 30 ^th:] This morning I saw them going very slowly on the
short journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem: they must have made many
halts. At midday I saw them resting on benches round a fountain with a
roof over it. I saw some women coming to the Blessed Virgin and
bringing her jugs with balsam and small loaves of bread. The Blessed
Virgin's sacrifice for the Temple hung in a basket at the side of the
donkey. This basket had three compartments, two of which were lined
with something. These contained fruit. The third was of open wickerwork
and a couple of doves could be seen in it. Towards evening I saw them
enter a small house beside a large inn about a quarter of an hour from
Jerusalem. This was kept by an old childless couple who welcomed them
with particular affection. I now know why I mistook Anna's companions
yesterday for the people from an inn in Jerusalem: I had seen them
stopping here with these good old people on their way to Bethlehem,
when they had no doubt arranged about a lodging for the Blessed Virgin.
The old couple were Essenes and related to Joanna Chuza. The husband
was a gardener by trade, trimmed hedges, and was employed in work on
the road.
[February 1 ^st:] I saw the Holy Family with these old innkeepers near
Jerusalem during the whole of today. The Blessed Virgin was generally
alone in her room with the Child, who lay on a rug on a low ledge
projecting from the wall. She was praying all the time, and seemed to
be preparing herself for the coming ceremony. It was revealed to me at
the same time how one should prepare oneself for receiving Holy
Communion.
I saw the appearance of a number of holy angels in her room,
worshipping the Infant Jesus. I do not know whether the Blessed Virgin
also saw these angels, but I think so, because I saw her rapt in
contemplation. The good people of the inn did everything possible to
please the Blessed Virgin: they must have been aware of the holiness of
the Infant Jesus.
About seven o'clock in the evening I had a vision of the aged Simeon.
He was a thin, very old man with a short beard. He was an ordinary
priest, was married, and had three grown-up sons, the youngest of whom
might have been about twenty. I saw Simeon, who lived close to the
Temple, going through a narrow dark passage in the Temple walls into a
small vaulted cell, built in the thickness of the wall. I saw nothing
in this room but an opening through which one could look down into the
Temple. I saw the aged Simeon kneeling here rapt in prayer. Then the
appearance of an angel stood before him and warned him to take heed of
the little child who should be first presented early next morning, for
this was the Messiah for whom he had so long yearned. After he had seen
Him, he would soon die. I saw this so plainly; the room was
illuminated, and the holy old man was radiant with joy. Then I saw him
going to his house and telling his wife with great joy what had been
announced to him. After his wife had gone to bed, I saw Simeon betake
himself to prayer again.
I never saw devout Israelites and their priests praying with such
exaggerated gestures as the Jews today. I did, however, see them
scourging themselves. I saw the prophetess Anna praying in her cell and
having a vision about the Presentation of the Infant Jesus in the
Temple.
[February 2 ^nd:] This morning, while it was still dark, I saw the Holy
Family, accompanied by the people of the inn, leaving the inn and going
to Jerusalem to the Temple with the baskets of offerings and with the
donkey laden for the journey. They went into a walled courtyard in the
Temple. While Joseph and the innkeeper stabled the donkey in a shed,
the Blessed Virgin and her Child were kindly received by an aged woman
and led into the Temple by a covered passage. A light was carried, for
it was still dark. No sooner had they entered this passage than the
aged priest Simeon came, full of expectation, towards the Blessed
Virgin. After addressing a few friendly words to her, he took the Child
Jesus in his arms, pressed Him to his heart, and then hurried back to
the Temple by another way. Yesterday's message from the angel had so
filled him with longing to see the Child of the Promise, for whom he
had sighed so long, that he had come out here to the place where the
women arrived. He was dressed in long garments such as the priests wear
when not officiating. I often saw him in the Temple, and always as an
aged priest of no elevated rank. His great devoutness, simplicity, and
enlightenment alone distinguished him.
The Blessed Virgin was led by her guide to the outer courts of the
Temple where the ceremony took place, and she was here received by
Noemi, her former teacher, and Anna, who both lived on this side of the
Temple. Simeon, who now once more came out of the Temple to meet the
Blessed Virgin, led her, with her Child in her arms, to the customary
place for the redemption of the firstborn. Anna, to whom Joseph gave
the basket with the offerings, followed her with Noemi. The doves were
in the lower part of the basket; above them was a compartment with
fruit. Joseph went by another door into the place set apart for men.
It must have been known in the Temple that several women were coming
for the presentation ceremony, for everything was arranged. The room
where the ceremony took place was as big as the parish church here in
Duelmen. Many lamps were burning on its walls, forming pyramids of
light. The little flames are at the end of a bent tube projecting from
a golden disc which shines almost as brightly as the flame. Hanging
from this disc by a woven cord is a little extinguisher which is used
to put out the light without making any smell and removed again when
the lamps are lit.
An oblong chest had been brought out by several priests and set before
a kind of altar with what looked like horns at each corner. The doors
of this chest were opened to form a stand on which a large tray was
laid. This was covered first with a red cloth, and then with a
transparent white one, which hung down to the ground on each side.
Burning lamps with several branches were placed at the four corners of
this table, in the middle of which was an oblong cradle flanked by two
oval bowls containing two baskets. All these things had been brought
out of drawers in the chest, with priests' vestments, which were laid
on the other permanent altar. The table which had been set up for the
offering was surrounded by a railing. On each side of this room were
seats, raised one above the other, in which were priests saying
prayers.
Simeon now approached the Blessed Virgin, in whose arms the Infant
Jesus lay wrapped in a sky-blue covering, and led her through the
railing to the table, where she laid the Child in the cradle. From this
moment I saw an indescribable light filling the Temple. I saw that God
Himself was in it, and above the Child I saw the heavens opening to
disclose the Throne of the Holy Trinity. Simeon then led the Blessed
Virgin back to the women's place. Mary wore a pale sky-blue dress, with
a white veil, and was completely enveloped in a long yellow cloak.
Simeon then went to the permanent altar on which the vestments had been
laid out, and he and three other priests vested each other for the
ceremony. They had a kind of little shield on their arms, and on their
heads were caps divided like miters. One went behind and the other in
front of the table of offering, while two others stood at the narrow
ends of it praying over the Child. Anna now came up to Mary and handed
her the basket of offerings, which contained fruit and doves in two
separate compartments, one above the other. She led her to the railing
in front of the table, and there both remained standing. Simeon, who
was standing before the table, opened the railing, led Mary up to the
table, and placed her offering on it. Fruit was placed in one of the
oval dishes and coins in the other: the doves remained in the basket.
[144] Simeon remained standing with Mary before the table of offering,
and the priest who stood behind it lifted the Infant Jesus from the
cradle and held Him up towards the different sides of the Temple,
making a long prayer the while. He then gave the Child to Simeon, who
laid Him once more in Mary's arms and prayed over her and the Child
from a scroll hanging on a stand beside him. Simeon then led the
Blessed Virgin back to where Anna was waiting for her in front of the
railing, after which Anna took her back to the railed-off women's
enclosure. Here some twenty women were waiting to present their
firstborn. Joseph and the other men were standing farther back in the
place for men.
The priests at the permanent altar now began a service with incense and
prayers. The priests in the seats took part in this service, making
gestures, but not such violent ones as the Jews of today. At the close
of this ceremony, Simeon came up to where Mary was standing, took the
Infant Jesus from her into his arms, speaking long and loudly over Him
in raptures of joy and thanking God that He had fulfilled His Promise.
He ended with his Nunc Dimittis [ Luke 2.29-32]. After the Presentation
Joseph came up, and he and Mary listened with great reverence to
Simeon's inspired words to the Blessed Virgin [ Luke 2.34]. When Simeon
had finished speaking, the prophetess Anna was also filled with
inspiration, and spoke long and loudly about the Infant Jesus, hailing
His Mother as blessed. I saw that those who were present were greatly
moved by all this, and the priests, too, seemed to hear something of
what was happening; but no sort of disturbance was caused thereby. It
seemed as if this loud inspired praying was nothing unusual, as if it
often happened, and as if it must all be so. At the same time I saw
that the hearts of all the bystanders were much moved, and all showed
great reverence to the Child and His Mother. Mary was like a heavenly
rose in radiance.
The Holy Family had, in appearance, made the most humble offering; but
Joseph gave Anna and the aged Simeon many of the triangular yellow
pieces in secret, to be used specially for poor girls who were being
brought up in the Temple and could not afford the expense.
I saw the Blessed Virgin and her Child being accompanied by Anna and
Noemi back to the outer court, whence they had fetched her, and there
they took leave of each other. Joseph was there already with the two
people from the inn; he had brought the donkey which carried Mary and
the Child, and they started at once on their journey from the Temple
through Jerusalem to Nazareth. I did not see the presentation of the
other firstborn children that day, but I feel that they were all given
a special grace, and that many of them were among the massacred
Innocents.
The Presentation must have ended about nine o'clock this morning, for
it was at this time that I saw the departure of the Holy Family. That
day they traveled as far as Bethoron, where they spent the night at the
house which had been the last stopping-place of the Blessed Virgin when
she was brought to the Temple thirteen years before. The owner of this
house seemed to me to be a schoolteacher. Servants sent by Anna were
waiting here for them. They went to Nazareth by a much more direct road
than on their way to Bethlehem, when they had avoided all towns and had
only stopped at lonely houses. Joseph had left in pledge with his
relations the young she ass which had shown him the way on their
journey to Bethlehem, for he still intended to return to Bethlehem and
build a house in the Shepherds' Valley. He had spoken to the shepherds
about it, and told them that he was taking Mary to her mother only for
a time until she should have recovered from the discomfort of her
lodging. With this plan in his mind, he had left a good many things
with the shepherds. Joseph had a strange kind of money with him; I
think he must have been given it by the three kings. Inside his robe he
had a kind of pouch, in which he carried a quantity of little thin
shining yellow leaves rolled up in each other. Their corners were
rounded and something was scratched on them. Judas' pieces of silver
were thicker and tongue-shaped; the whole pieces were rounded at both
ends and the half pieces at one end only.
1. A VIEW OF THE THREE HOLY KINGS ON THEIR JOURNEY HOME.
At this time I saw all three kings together again beyond a river. They
had a day of rest and kept a feast. At this place there was one big
house with several smaller ones. The direction taken by the kings on
their way home lies between the road they followed on their journey to
Bethlehem and that by which Jesus came out of Egypt in the third year
of His ministry. At first they traveled very quickly, but after this
resting-place their pace was much slower than when they came. I always
saw a shining youth going before them and sometimes talking with them.
They left Ur on the right.
2. SIMEON'S DEATH.
[February 3 ^rd:] Simeon had a wife and three sons, of whom the eldest
was about forty and the youngest twenty years old. All three served in
the Temple, and were later secret friends of Jesus and His followers.
All became disciples of Our Lord, but at different times: before His
death or after His ascension. At the Last Supper one of them prepared
the Paschal Lamb for Jesus and the Apostles; but these were perhaps
grandsons, not sons, of Simeon; I am not sure. Simeon's sons did much
to help the friends of Our Lord at the time of the first persecutions
after the Ascension. Simeon was related to Seraphia, who was later
given the name Veronica, and also, through her father, to Zechariah.
I saw that Simeon fell ill yesterday immediately on returning home
after his prophecy at the Presentation of Jesus, but he spoke very
joyfully with his wife and sons. Tonight I saw that today was to be the
day of his death. Of the many things I saw I can only remember this
much. Simeon, from the couch where he lay, spoke earnestly to his wife
and children, telling them of the salvation that was come to Israel and
of everything that the angel had announced to him. His joy was touching
to behold. Then I saw him die peacefully and heard the quiet
lamentation of his family. Many other old priests and Jews were praying
round his bed. Then I saw them carry his body into another room. They
placed it on a board pierced with holes, and washed it with sponges,
holding a cloth over it so that its nakedness could not be seen. The
water ran through the board into a copper basin placed beneath it. Then
they covered the body with big green leaves, surrounded it with bunches
of sweet herbs, and wrapped it in a great cloth in which it was tied up
with long bandages like a child in swaddling bands. The body lay so
straight and rigid that I thought the bands must have been tied right
round the board.
In the evening Simeon was buried. His body was carried to the grave by
six men bearing torches. It lay on a board more or less the shape of a
body, but surrounded by an edge higher in the middle of its four sides
and lower at the corners. The wrapped-up corpse lay on this board
without any other covering. The bearers and those who followed them
walked quicker than is usual at our burials. The grave was on a hill
not very far from the Temple. The door of the sepulcher was set
slanting against a little hill. It was walled inside with a strange
kind of masonry like that which I saw St. Benedict working at in his
first monastery. [145] The walls, like those in the Blessed Virgin's
cell in the Temple, were decorated with stars and other patterns in
colored stones. The little cave in the middle of which they laid the
corpse was just large enough to allow them to pass round the body.
There were some other funeral customs such as laying various things
beside the dead man--coins, little stones, and I think also food, but I
am not sure.
3. THE ARRIVAL OF THE HOLY FAMILY AT ST. ANNE'S HOUSE.
In the evening I saw the Holy Family arrive at Anna's house, which is
about half an hour's distance from Nazareth in the direction of the
valley of Zabulon. There was a little family' festival like the one
when Mary left home for the Temple. A lamp was burning above the table.
Joachim was dead, and I saw Anna's second husband as master of the
house. Anna's eldest daughter, Mary Heli, was there on a visit. The
donkey was unloaded, for Mary meant to stay here for some time. All
were full of joy over the Infant Jesus, but it was a tranquil inner
joy; I never saw any of these people giving way to very violent
emotions. Some aged priests were there, and all present partook of a
light meal. The women ate separately from the men, as is always the
custom at meals.
I saw the Holy Family still in Anna's house a few days later. There are
several women there, Mary Heli, Anna's eldest daughter, with her child
Mary Cleophas, a woman from Elizabeth's home, and the maidservant who
was with Mary in Bethlehem. This maidservant did not wish to marry
again after the death of her husband, who had not been a good man, and
came to Elizabeth at Juttah, where the Blessed Virgin made her
acquaintance when she visited Elizabeth before John's birth. From here
this widow came to Anna. Today I saw Joseph in Anna's house packing
many things on donkeys and going in front of the donkeys (of which
there were two or three) towards Nazareth, accompanied by the maid.
I cannot remember the details of all that I saw today in Anna's house,
but I must have had a very vivid impression of it all, for while I was
there I was in an intense activity of prayer, which is now hardly
comprehensible to me. Before I came to Anna's house I had been in
spirit with a young married couple who supported their old mother; they
are both mortally ill, and if they do not recover, the mother will
perish. I know this poor family, but have had no news of them for a
long time. In desperate cases like this I always invoke St. Anne, and
when I was in her house today in my vision, I saw, in spite of the
season of the year, and though the leaves had all fallen, many pears,
plums, and other fruit hanging on the trees in her garden. When I went
away I was allowed to pick these, and I took the pears to the young
couple who were ill and so cured them. After that I was made to give
some to many other poor people, known and unknown to me, who were
restored to health by them. No doubt these fruits signified graces
obtained through the intercession of St. Anne. I fear that these fruits
mean much pain and suffering for me, which always comes after visions
in which I pick fruit in the gardens of the saints--this has always to
be paid for. Perhaps these souls are under the protection of St. Anne,
and are thus entitled to fruit from the garden; or perhaps it happened
because, as I have always recognized, she is a patroness in desperate
cases.
4. THE WEATHER IN PALESTINE.
[When asked what sort of weather she saw in Palestine at this time of
the year, she answered:] I always forget to mention that, because it
seems to me all so natural that I always think everyone knows about it.
I often see rain and mist, and sometimes a little snow, but this melts
at once. I often see leafless trees with fruit still hanging on them. I
see several crops in the year, and I see them beginning to harvest in
our spring. Now that it is winter I see people going along the roads
wrapped up, with their cloaks over their heads.
[February 6 ^th:] This afternoon I saw the Blessed Virgin going from
Anna's house to Joseph's house in Nazareth. She was accompanied by her
mother, who carried the Infant Jesus. It is a very pleasant walk of
half an hour among hills and gardens. Anna sends provisions from her
own house to Joseph and Mary in Nazareth. How beautiful is the life of
the Holy Family! Mary is at once the mother and the humblest handmaid
of the Holy Child and at the same time she is Joseph's servant. Joseph
is her faithful friend and humblest servant. When the Blessed Virgin
rocks the Infant Jesus to and fro in her arms, how marvelous to see the
all-merciful God, who made the world, allowing Himself out of His great
love to be treated like a helpless little child! How dreadful in
comparison the coldness and self-will of deceitful and hard-hearted
men!
5. CANDLEMAS.
The Feast of Candlemas was represented to me in a great picture, but
one very difficult to describe, although I recollect much of what I
saw.
I saw a feast being celebrated in the Church, transparent and floating
above the earth, as I always am shown the Catholic Church when I am to
contemplate it, not as some particular local church, but as the
Universal Church itself. I saw this Church filled with choirs of angels
surrounding the Most Holy Trinity. Since, however, I saw the Second
Person of that Most Holy Trinity being presented and redeemed in the
Temple, incarnate in the form of the Infant Jesus and yet present in
the Most Holy Trinity, it seemed to me, as it did a short time ago,
that the Child Jesus was sitting near me and comforting me at the same
time that I saw a vision of the Holy Trinity. I saw the appearance of
the Word become Flesh, the Infant Jesus, at my side, connected with the
vision of the Trinity as it were by a path of light. I could not say,
He is not there, since He is with me', nor could I say, He is not with
me, since He is there'. And yet, in the instant when I had a vivid
sensation of the Child Jesus being near me, the representation of the
Most Holy Trinity was shown to me, but in a different form from that in
which I see it when it is a picture of the Godhead alone.
I saw an altar appear in the center of the Church--not an altar like
those in our churches today, but just an altar. On this altar stood a
little tree of the same kind as the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of
Eden, with broad hanging leaves. Then I saw the Blessed Virgin rise
before the altar with the Infant Jesus in her arms as if she had come
up out of the earth; and I saw the tree on the altar bow before her and
then wither away. And I saw a great angel in priest's vestments, with
only a ring round his head, approach Mary. She gave him the Child, whom
he placed on the altar, and in the same moment I saw the Child thus
offered up pass into the picture of the Holy Trinity, which I now saw
once more in its usual form. I saw, too, that the angel gave the Mother
of God a little bright globe surmounted by the figure of a child in
swaddling-bands, and that Mary floated with this gift towards the
altar. I saw crowds of poor people coming to her from all sides bearing
lights: she handed all these lights to the Child on the globe, into
whom they passed. And I saw a light and a radiance being thrown by
these lights on Mary and the Child, illuminating everything. Mary had a
flowing mantle which spread over the whole earth. The picture was then
transformed into a festal ceremony.
I think that the withering of the Tree of Knowledge at Mary's
appearance, and the passing of the Child on the altar into the Holy
Trinity signified the reunion of mankind with God. That is why I saw
all the scattered individual lights handed to the Mother of God and
given by her to the Child Jesus: for He was the light enlightening all
mankind, in whom alone all the scattered lights became one light to
enlighten the whole world, symbolized by the globe, the orb of a king.
The lights presented to the Blessed Virgin signified the Blessing of
the Candles at today's feast.
__________________________________________________________________
[142] Luke 2.22-39. (SB)
[143] The laws about Purification' and offerings after childbirth are
in Lev. 12.4-8, and the sanctification' of the first-born is directed
in Exod. 13.2 and Num. 3.13. (SB)
[144] In 1823, when recounting Jesus' stay in Hebron during the third
year of His ministry, some ten days after the death of the Baptist,
Catherine Emmerich said that she saw Our Lord teaching, on Friday the
29th day of the month of Thebet (i.e. Jan. 17th), from the Sabbath
reading taken from Exodus, Chapter 10 to Chapter 13.17. He taught about
the Egyptian plague of darkness and about the redemption of the
first-born. In connection with the latter she recounted once more the
whole ceremony of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, including
the following, omitted from the description given in the text:The
Blessed Virgin did not present Our Lord in the Temple until the
forty-third day after His birth. Because of the feast, she waited for
three days with the good people of the inn outside the Bethlehem gate
of Jerusalem. Besides the customary offering of doves, she presented to
the Temple five triangular pieces of gold from the kings' gifts, as
well as several pieces of beautiful stuff for embroidery. Before
leaving Bethlehem, Joseph sold to his cousin the young she-ass which he
had given him in pledge on Nov. 30th. I have always thought that the
she-ass, on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, was a
descendant of hers.' (CB)
[145] In a vision of the life of St. Benedict which Catherine Emmerich
had on Feb. 10th, 1820, she saw amongst other things that as a boy he
was shown by his teacher how to use colored stones to make all kinds of
ornaments and arabesques in the sand of the garden in the manner of the
old pavements. Later she saw him, when a hermit, decorating the roof of
his cell or cave with a reproduction in rough mosaic of a vision of the
Last Judgment. Still later she saw St. Benedict's followers imitating
and extending this form of decoration. After contemplating in its
smallest details the whole history and development of his Order from
its foundation, she said: Because in the Benedictines the inner spirit
became less active and alive than its outer shell, I saw their churches
and monasteries becoming too much ornamented and decorated. I thought
to myself, that comes from the picture Benedict made in his cell; it
has shot up like a weed, and when once this superstructure collapses,
it will strike many of them at the same time.' (CB)
__________________________________________________________________
XVI. THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN THE DESERT [146]
[On Saturday, February 10 ^th, 1821, Catherine Emmerich, who was ill at
the time, was worried by material cares about where she was to live.
She fell asleep full of these cares, but soon woke up quite happy. She
said that a good friend of hers who had lately died (a pious old
priest) had just been with her and had comforted her. How wise that
wise man now is, and how well he can now speak! He said to me: "Do not
be anxious about a dwelling for yourself; take care only that you are
swept and garnished within to receive Our Lord when He comes to you.
When Joseph came to Bethlehem, he sought a lodging for Jesus, not for
himself, and swept the Cave of the Nativity till it was beautifully
clean." ' She told of several other profound utterances of this friend,
all characteristic of one who knew her temperament so well. She added
that he said to her: When St. Joseph was told by the angel to flee into
Egypt with Jesus and Mary, he did not worry about a dwelling-place, but
set off at once as he was told.' As she had seen something of the
flight into Egypt the year before at this time, the writer thought that
this was happening again, so asked her: Was it today that Joseph
started for Egypt?' She answered very clearly and decisively: No, the
day he started on the flight was what is now February 29 ^th.']
1. THE AGE OF THE CHILD JESUS DURING THE FLIGHT TO EGYPT.
[Unfortunately there was no opportunity of obtaining precise
information from her about this, as she was very ill during these
communications. Once she said: The Child may well be more than a year
old, I saw Him playing about by a balsam-bush at one of the
halting-places on the journey, and sometimes His parents led Him by the
hand for a little way.' Another time it seemed to her that Jesus was
nine months old. It must be left to the reader to conjecture the age of
Jesus from the various circumstances of Catherine Emmerich's account,
and in particular from a comparison with the age of the little John the
Baptist, which seems to confirm the theory of Our Lord being nine
months old.]
2. NAZARETH. THE HOUSE OF THE HOLY FAMILY.
[Sunday, February 25 ^th:] I saw the Blessed Virgin doing knitting or
crochet work. She had a roll of wool fastened at her right hip and she
held in her hands two needles (of bone, I think) with little hooks. One
must be half a yard long. The other is shorter. The needle is prolonged
beyond the hook, and it is round this prolongation that the thread is
looped to make the stitch in working. The part already knitted hangs
down between the two needles. She did this work standing or sitting
beside the Infant Jesus lying in a basket. I saw St. Joseph plaiting
long strips of yellow, brown, and green bark to make panels for screens
or for walls and ceilings. He had a store of these panels lying on top
of each other in a shed near the house. He wove various patterns into
them--stars, hearts, and other things. I felt sorry for him; he had no
idea that he would soon have to flee into Egypt. The Blessed Virgin's
mother comes regularly every day to visit her; it is nearly an hour's
walk from her house.
I had a view of Jerusalem, and saw Herod having numbers of men
summoned, as when soldiers are called up with us. These were led into a
large courtyard and given clothes and weapons. They wore something like
a half-moon on one arm. They carried spears and short broad swords like
chopping knives. They wore helmets, and many of them had wrappings tied
round their legs. All this must have been connected with the Massacre
of the Innocents. Herod was in a very uneasy frame of mind.
3. JERUSALEM. HEROD'S PREPARATIONS FOR THE MURDER OF THE CHILDREN.
[February 26 ^th:] I still see Herod exceedingly uneasy, just as he was
when the three kings asked him about the newborn King of the Jews. I
saw him taking counsel with several old scribes, who read from very
long parchment scrolls, fastened on rods, which they had brought with
them. I saw, too, that the soldiers who had been given new clothes two
days ago were sent to Bethlehem and to various places round Jerusalem.
I think they were sent to occupy the places whence the children were to
be brought by their unsuspecting mothers to Jerusalem. The soldiers
were intended to prevent any insurrection when the reports of the
massacre reached the children's homes.
4. HEROD PLACES SOLDIERS IN VARIOUS PLACES SURROUNDING JERUSALEM.
[February 27 ^th:] Today I saw Herod's soldiers who had started
yesterday from Jerusalem arriving at three places. They came to Hebron,
Bethlehem, and another place, lying between those two in the direction
of the Dead Sea. I have forgotten its name. The inhabitants had no idea
why these soldiers had been sent to them and were somewhat disturbed.
Herod was crafty; he kept his own counsel and sought in secret for
Jesus. The soldiers stayed in these towns for some time; then, when
Herod completely failed to find the child born in Bethlehem, he
massacred all the children under two years of age.
5. PERSONAL NOTES: PRAYER DURING THE SEASON OF THE MARTYRDOM OF THE HOLY
INNOCENTS.
[This evening at dusk Catherine Emmerich fell asleep and after a few
minutes said, without any apparent reason: God be thanked a thousand
times that I came at the right moment! What a blessing that I was
there! The poor child is saved; I prayed that she should bless and kiss
it, and after that she could no longer have thrown it into the pond.'
The writer, on hearing this sudden exclamation, asked,' Whom do you
mean?' She continued: It is an unfortunate girl who has been seduced.
She was going to drown her newborn child not far from here. During the
last few days I have besought God so earnestly that no poor innocent
child should die without being baptized and blessed. I prayed thus
because the time of the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents is drawing
near. I adjured God by the blood of His first blood-witnesses. One must
profit by the times and seasons, and every year. When the rosebuds open
in the garden of the Church Triumphant, one must pluck them on earth.
God has heard my prayer and enabled me to help the mother and her
child. Perhaps one day I shall see that child.' This is what she said
immediately after her vision, or rather after the action she took in
spirit. Next morning she said: My guide took me quickly to M. Near
there I saw a girl who had been seduced who had just given birth to her
child behind a bush. She carried it in her apron towards a deep pond on
which green scum was floating, meaning to throw the child into the
water. I saw a tall dark figure beside her from which a dreadful kind
of light was thrown; I think it was the evil one. I went close up to
her, praying with my whole heart, and saw the dark figure withdraw.
Then she took the child and kissed and blessed it, after which she
could no longer bring herself to drown it. She sat down again, weeping
most terribly and not knowing where to turn. I comforted her and gave
her the idea of going to her confessor and begging him to help her. She
did not see me, but her guardian angel gave her this advice. Her
parents were, I think, far away. She seemed to belong to a middle-class
family. ]
6. NAZARETH. ST. ANNE AND HER MAID BRING FOOD TO THE HOLY FAMILY.
[February 27 ^th:] This evening I saw Anna and her eldest her house to
Nazareth with the maidservant who was related to her--the one she had
left with the Blessed Virgin in Bethlehem after Christ's birth. The
maid had a bundle hanging at her side, and carried a basket on her head
and another in her hand. They were round baskets, and you could see
through one of them. There were birds in them. They were taking
provisions to Mary, who did no house-keeping and was provided for by
Anna.
7. NAZARETH. A LOOK AT THE LIFESTYLE OF THE HOLY WOMEN.
[February 28:] This evening I saw Anna and her eldest daughter with the
Blessed Virgin. Mary Heli had with her a sturdy little boy four or five
years old, her grandson, the eldest son of her daughter Mary Cleophas.
Joseph had gone to Anna's house. I watched the women sitting there,
talking confidentially to each other, playing with the Infant Jesus and
pressing Him to their breasts or giving Him to the little boy to hold
in his arms. Women are always the same, I thought; it was all just as
it is with us today.
Mary Heli lived in a little village some three hours to the east of
Nazareth. Her house was almost as good as her mother's: it had a walled
courtyard with a fountain and pump. You trod on something beneath it,
and water poured out at the top into a stone basin. Her husband was
called Cleophas, and her daughter Mary Cleophas, who was married to
Alpheus, lived at the other end of the village.
In the evening I saw the women praying. They stood before a little
table covered with a red-and-white cloth and standing against the wall.
A scroll lay on this table, which the Blessed Virgin unrolled and hung
up on the wall. A figure was embroidered on it in pale colors; it
looked like a dead man in a long white cloak, wrapped up like a child
in swaddling-bands. The head was wrapped in the cloak, which was wider
round the arms. The figure held something in its arms. I had already
seen this figure at the ceremony in Anna's house, when Mary was taken
to the Temple. It reminded me then of Melchizedek, for he seemed to
have a chalice in his arms; but another time I thought it represented
Moses. A lamp was burning during the prayer. Mary, with her sister
beside her, stood in front of Anna. They crossed their hands on their
breasts, folded them, and then extended them. Mary read from a scroll
lying before her, unrolling it as she read. They prayed in a particular
tone and rhythm which reminded me of the chanting in the convent choir.
8. NAZARETH. AN ANGEL WAKES JOSEPH TO FLEE.
[The night of Thursday, March 1 ^st, to the morning of Friday, March 2
^nd:] They are gone. I saw them start forth. Joseph came back early in
the morning of yesterday, Thursday, from Anna's house. Anna and her
eldest daughter were still here in Nazareth. They had all only just
gone to bed when the angel came to warn Joseph. [147] Mary and the
Infant Jesus had their bedroom to the right of the hearth; Anna's was
to the left, and her eldest daughter's room was between hers and
Joseph's. These rooms were compartments divided off and sometimes
roofed by wicker screens. Mary's room had yet another curtain or screen
dividing it off. The Infant Jesus lay on a rug at her feet, and she
could pick Him up without getting out of bed.
I saw Joseph in his room lying on his side asleep with his head on his
arm. I saw a shining youth come up to his bed and speak with him.
Joseph sat up, but was heavy with sleep and lay down again. The youth
took his hand and pulled him up, when Joseph came to his senses and got
up, on which the youth disappeared. Joseph then went to the lamp
burning in front of the fireplace in the center of the house and lit
his own lamp at it. He knocked at the Blessed Virgin's room and asked
whether he might come in. I saw him go in and speak with Mary, who did
not open the screen before her bed; then I saw him go to his donkey in
the stable, and afterwards into a room where all kinds of things were
kept. He prepared everything for their departure. As soon as Joseph had
left the Blessed Virgin's room, she got up and dressed for the journey,
before going to her mother and telling her of God's commands. Anna got
up, as did Mary Heli and her little boy, but they let the Infant Jesus
go on sleeping. For these good people God's Will came first of all; sad
at heart though they were, they hastened to make all preparations for
the journey before allowing themselves to give way to the sorrow of
parting. Anna and Mary Heli helped to get everything ready for the
journey. Mary did not take nearly so much with her as she had brought
from Bethlehem. They packed up nothing but a moderate-sized bundle and
a few blankets, which were taken out to Joseph to be loaded on the
donkey. Everything was done quietly and very quickly, as was proper for
a journey undertaken secretly after a warning at dead of night. When
Mary fetched her Child, she was in such haste that I did not even see
her wrap Him in fresh swaddling clothes. Then came the farewells, and I
cannot describe how moving it was to see the distress of Anna and her
eldest daughter. They embraced the Infant Jesus with tears, and the
little boy, too, was allowed to take Him in his arms. Anna embraced the
Blessed Virgin again and again, weeping as bitterly as if she were
never to see her more. Mary Heli flung herself onto the ground in
tears.
It was not yet midnight when they left the house. Anna and Mary Heli
accompanied the Blessed Virgin on foot for a short part of the way from
Nazareth, Joseph following with the donkey. The way led towards Anna's
house, but rather more to the left. Mary carried the Infant Jesus,
wrapped in swaddling clothes, before her in a sort of sling, which went
round her shoulders and was fastened behind her neck. [Please refer to
Figure 21.] She wore a long cloak which wrapped both herself and the
Child, and a big square veil, fastened round the back of her head and
hanging in long folds beside her face. They had not gone far when
Joseph came up with the donkey, which was carrying a skin of water and
a basket with several compartments containing little loaves of bread,
small jugs, and live birds. The baggage and blankets were packed round
the side-saddle, which had a foot-rest hanging from it. They embraced
again with tears, and Anna blessed the Blessed Virgin, who then seated
herself on the donkey, led by Joseph, and they started off.
[While Catherine Emmerich was describing the grief of Anna and Mary
Heli, she wept copiously herself, saying that in the night, too, when
she saw this vision, she could not help shedding many tears.]
9. NAZARETH. THE HOLY WOMEN PUT THINGS IN ORDER AND LEAVE JOSEPH'S HOME.
[March 2 ^nd:] Early in the morning I saw Mary Heli with her little boy
going to Anna's house and sending the master of the house and a
manservant to Nazareth, after which she went to her own house. I saw
Anna putting everything in order in Joseph's house and packing away
many things. In the morning there came two men from Anna's house; one
of them was dressed in nothing but a sheepskin, and had on his feet
thick sandals strapped round his legs. The other had a long robe on; he
seemed to me to be Anna's present husband. They helped to arrange
everything in Joseph's house, and to pack up what was movable and take
it to Anna's house. [148]
Figure 21. The holy family flees from Nazareth.
During the night of the Holy Family's flight from Nazareth, I saw them
passing through various places and resting in a shed before dawn.
Towards the evening, when they could go no farther, I saw them stopping
at a village called Nazara in the house of people who lived apart and
were rather despised. They were not proper Jews, and their religion had
something heathen about it. They worshipped in the Temple on Mount
Garizim, near Samaria, approached by a difficult mountain path several
miles long. [149] They were oppressed by many hard duties, and were
obliged to work like slaves at forced labor in the Temple at Jerusalem
and other public buildings. These people gave a warm welcome to the
Holy Family, who remained there the whole of the following day. On
their return from Egypt the Holy Family once more visited these good
people, and again when Jesus went to the Temple in His twelfth year and
returned thence to Nazareth. [150]
This whole family later received baptism from John and became followers
of Jesus. This place is not far from a strange town, high up, the name
of which I can no longer remember. I have seen and heard the names of
so many towns in this district, among them Legio and Massaloth, between
which, I think, Nazara lies. I believe that the town whose situation I
thought so strange is called Legio, but it has another name as well.
[151]
10. THE GROVE OF MOREH. ABRAHAM'S TEREBINTH TREE.
[Sunday, March 4 ^th:] Yesterday, Saturday evening, at the close of the
Sabbath, the Holy Family traveled on from Nazara through the night, and
during the whole of Sunday and the following night I saw them in hiding
by that big old terebinth tree where they had stopped in Advent on
their journey to Bethlehem, when the Blessed Virgin was so cold. It was
Abraham's terebinth tree, near the grove of Moreh, not far from
Shechem, Thanath, Shiloh, and Aruma. The news of Herod's pursuit had
spread here, and the region was unsafe for them. It was near this tree
that Jacob buried Laban's idols. Joshua assembled the people near this
tree and erected the tabernacle containing the Ark of the Covenant, and
it was here that he made them renounce their idols. Abimelech, the son
of Gideon, was hailed here as king by the people of Shechem. [152]
11. THE HOLY FAMILY RESTS BY A STREAM.
[March 5 ^th:] This morning I saw the Holy Family resting in a fertile
part of the country and refreshing themselves beside a little stream
where there was a balsam bush. The Infant Jesus lay on the Blessed
Virgin's knees with His little feet bare. Incisions had been made here
and there in the branches of the balsam shrub, which had red berries,
and from these incisions a liquid dripped into little pots hanging on
the branches. I was surprised that these were not stolen. Joseph filled
the little jugs, which he had brought with him with the balsam juice.
They ate little loaves of bread and berries which they picked from the
bushes growing near. The donkey drank from the stream and grazed near
by. On their left I saw Jerusalem high up in the distance. It was a
very lovely scene.
12. JUTTAH. ELIZABETH TAKES JOHN INTO THE WILDERNESS.
[March 6 ^th:] Zechariah and Elizabeth had also received a message
warning them of imminent danger. I think the Holy Family had sent them
a trusty messenger. I saw Elizabeth taking the little John to a very
hidden place in the wilderness, a few hours' distance from Hebron.
[153] Zechariah accompanied them for only a part of the way, to a place
where they crossed a small stream on a wooden beam. He then left them
and went towards Nazareth by the way which Mary followed when she
visited Elizabeth. I saw him on his journey to Nazareth, where he is
probably going to obtain further details from Anna. Many of the friends
of the Holy Family there are much distressed at their departure. Little
John had nothing on but a lamb's skin; although scarcely eighteen
months old, he was sure on his feet and could run and jump about. Even
at that age he had a little white stick in his hand, which he treated
as a plaything. One must not think of his wilderness as a great desert
of waste sand, but rather as a desolate place with rocks, caves, and
ravines, where bushes and wild fruits and berries grew. Elizabeth took
the little John into a cave in which Mary Magdalen lived for some time
after Jesus' death. I cannot remember how long Elizabeth remained here
hidden with her young child, but it was probably only until the alarm
about Herod's persecution had subsided. She then returned to Juttah,
about two hours' distance away, for I saw her escaping again into the
wilderness with John when Herod summoned the mothers with their little
sons up to two years of age, which happened quite a year later.
[Catherine Emmerich, who had up to this point communicated pictures of
the Flight day by day, was here interrupted by illness and other
disturbances. On resuming her story a few days later she said:] I
cannot distinguish the days so clearly now, but will describe the
separate pictures of the Flight into Egypt as nearly as possible in the
order in which I remember seeing them.
13. EPHRAIM BY THE MAMBRE WOODS.
I saw the Holy Family, after they had crossed some of the ridges of the
Mount of Olives, going in the direction of Hebron beyond Bethlehem.
They went into a large cave, about a mile from the wood of Mambre, in a
wild mountain gorge. On this mountain was a town with a name which
sounded like Ephraim. I think that this was the sixth halting-place on
their journey. I saw the Holy Family arriving here very exhausted and
distressed. Mary was very sad and was weeping. Everything they needed
was lacking, and in their flight they kept to by-ways and avoided towns
and public inns. They spent the whole day here resting. Several special
favors were granted to them here. An angel appeared to them and
comforted them, and a spring of water gushed forth in the cave at the
prayer of the Blessed Virgin, while a wild she-goat came to them and
allowed herself to be milked. A prophet used often to pray in this
cave, and I think Samuel came here several times. David kept his
father's sheep near here [154] ; he used to pray here, and it was here
that he received from an angel the order to undertake the fight against
Goliath. [155]
14. SOUTH OF HEBRON. JOHN SENDS THE THIRSTING JESUS A SPRING OF WATER.
From this cave they journeyed southwards for seven hours, with the Dead
Sea always on their left hand. Two hours after leaving Hebron they
entered the wilderness where little John the Baptist was in hiding.
[156] Their way led them only a bow-shot's distance from his cave. I
saw the Holy Family wandering through a sandy desert, weary and
careworn. The water-skin and the jugs of balsam were empty; the Blessed
Virgin was greatly distressed, and both she and the Infant Jesus were
thirsty. They went a little way aside from the path, where the ground
sank, and there were bushes and some withered turf. The Blessed Virgin
dismounted, and sat for a little with the Child on her knees, praying
in her distress. While the Blessed Virgin was thus praying for water
like Hagar in the wilderness, I was shown a wonderfully moving
incident. The cave in which Elizabeth had hidden her little son was
quite near here, on a wild rocky height, and I saw the little boy not
far from the cave wandering about among the stones and bushes as if he
were anxiously and eagerly waiting for something. I did not see
Elizabeth in this vision. To see this little boy roaming and running
about in the wilderness with such confidence made a great impression on
me. Just as beneath his mother's heart he had leaped up at the approach
of his Lord, so now he was moved by the nearness of his Redeemer,
thirsty and weary. I saw the child wearing his lamb's-skin over his
shoulders and girt round his waist, and carrying in his hand a little
stick with a bit of bark waving on it. He felt that Jesus was passing
near and that He was thirsty; he threw himself on his knees and cried
to God with outstretched arms, then jumped up, ran, driven by the
Spirit, to the high edge of the rocks and thrust with his staff into
the ground, from which an abundant spring burst forth. John ran before
the stream to the edge, where it rushed down over the rocks. He stood
there and watched the Holy Family pass by in the distance. [157]
The Blessed Virgin lifted up the Infant Jesus high in her arms, saying
to Him, Look! John in the wilderness! '. And I saw John joyfully
leaping about beside the rushing water, and waving to them with the
little flag of bark on his stick. Then he hurried back into the
wilderness. After a little time the stream reached the travelers' path,
and I saw them crossing it and stopping to refresh themselves at a
pleasant place where there were some bushes and thin turf. The Blessed
Virgin dismounted with the Child; they were all joyful. Mary sat down
on the grass, and Joseph dug a hollow a little way off for the water to
fill. When the water became quite clear, they all drank, and Mary
washed the Child. They sprinkled their hands, feet, and faces with
water. Joseph led the donkey to the water, of which it drank deeply,
and he filled his water-skin. They were all happy and thankful; the
withered grass, now saturated with water, grew straight again, and the
sun came out and shone on them. They sat there refreshed and full of
quiet happiness. They rested for two or three hours in this place.
15. NEAR ANIM. THE LAST INN IN THE REGION OF HEROD.
The last place where the Holy Family sheltered in Herod's territory was
not far from a town on the edge of the desert, a few hours' journey
from the Dead Sea. Its name sounded like Anem or Anim. They stopped at
a solitary house which was an inn for those traveling through the
desert. There were several huts and sheds on a hill, and some wild
fruit grew round them. The inhabitants seemed to me to be
camel-drivers, for they kept a number of camels in enclosed meadows.
They were rather wild people and had been given to robbery, but they
received the Holy Family well and showed them hospitality. In the
neighboring town there were also many disorderly people who had settled
there after fighting in the wars. Among the people in the inn was a man
of twenty called Reuben. [158]
16. NIGHT TRAVEL. THE HOLY FAMILY STARTLES SNAKES AND FLYING LIZARDS.
[March 8 ^th:] I saw the Holy Family journeying in a bright starlit
night through a sandy desert covered with low bushes. I felt as if I
were traveling through it with them. It was dangerous because of the
numbers of snakes which lay coiled up among the bushes in little
hollows under the leaves. They crawled towards the path, hissing loudly
and stretching out their necks towards the Holy Family, who, however,
passed by in safety surrounded by light. I saw other evil beasts there
with long black bodies, short legs, and wings like big fins. They shot
over the ground as if they were flying, and their heads were fish-like
in shape. I saw the Holy Family come to a fall in the ground like the
edge of a sunken road; they meant to rest there behind some bushes.
I was alarmed for the Holy Family. The place was sinister, and I wanted
to make a screen to protect them on the side left open, but a dreadful
creature like a bear made his way in, and I was in terrible fear. Then
there suddenly appeared to me a friend of mine, an old priest who had
died lately. He was young and beautiful in form, and he seized the
creature by the scruff of its neck and threw it out. I asked him how he
came to be here, for surely he must be better off in his own place, to
which he replied: I only wanted to help you, and shall not stay here
long.' He told me more, adding that I should see him again.
17. MARA (?). AN INHOSPITABLE DESERT.
The Holy Family always traveled a mile eastwards of the high road. The
name of the last place they passed between Judea and the desert sounded
very like Mara. It reminded me of Anna's home, but it was not the same
place. The inhabitants here were rough and wild, and the Holy Family
could obtain no assistance from them. After this they came into a great
desert of sand. There was no path and nothing to show their direction,
and they did not know what to do. After some time they saw a dark,
gloomy mountain-ridge in front of them. The Holy Family were sorely
distressed, and fell on their knees praying to God for help. A number
of wild beasts then gathered round them, and at first it looked very
dangerous; but these beasts were not at all evil, but looked at them in
just the same friendly way as my confessor's old dog used to look at me
when he came up to me. [159] I realized then that these beasts were
sent to show them the way. They looked towards the mountain and ran in
that direction and then back again, just like a dog does when he wants
you to follow him somewhere. At last I saw the Holy Family follow these
animals and pass over a mountain-ridge into a wild and lonely region.
18. THE ROBBERS HUT. THE ROBBERS BECOME FRIENDLY.
It was dark, and the way led past a wood. In front of this wood, at
some distance from the path, I saw a poor hut, and not far from it a
light hanging in a tree, which could be seen from a long way off, to
attract travelers. This part of the road was sinister: trenches had
been dug in it here and there, and there were also trenches all round
the hut. Hidden cords were stretched across the good parts of the road,
and when touched by travelers rang bells in the hut and brought out its
thieving inhabitants to plunder them. This robbers' hut was not always
in the same place, it could be moved about and put up wherever its
inhabitants wanted it. [160]
When the Holy Family approached the light hanging in the tree, I saw
the leader of the robbers with five of his companions closing round
them. At first they were evilly disposed, but I saw that at the sight
of the Infant Jesus a ray, like an arrow, struck the heart of the
leader, who ordered his comrades to do no harm to these people. The
Blessed Virgin also saw this ray strike the robber's heart, as she
later recounted to Anna the prophetess when she returned. [161]
The robber now led the Holy Family through the dangerous places in the
road into his hut. It was night. In the hut was the robber's wife with
some children. The man told his wife of the strange sensation that had
come over him at the sight of the Child. She received the Holy Family
shyly, but was not unfriendly. The travelers sat on the ground in a
corner, and began to eat some of the provisions which they had with
them. The people in the hut were at first awkward and shy (quite
unlike, it seemed, their usual behavior), but gradually drew nearer and
nearer to the Holy Family. Some of the other men, who had in the
meantime stabled Joseph's donkey, came in and out, and eventually they
all became more familiar and began to talk to the travelers. The woman
brought Mary little loaves of bread with honey and fruit, as well as
goblets with drink. A fire was burning in a hollow in a corner of the
hut. The woman arranged a separate place for the Blessed Virgin, and
brought at her request a trough with water for washing the Infant
Jesus. She washed the linen for her and dried it at the fire. Mary
bathed the Infant Jesus under a cloth. The man was very much agitated
and said to his wife: This Hebrew child is no ordinary child. He is a
holy child. Ask his mother to allow us to wash our leprous little boy
in his bath-water, perhaps it will do him good.' As the woman came up
to Mary to ask her this, the Blessed Virgin told her, before she had
said a word, to wash her leprous boy in the bath-water. The woman
brought her three-year-old son lying in her arms. He was stiff with
leprosy and his features could not be seen for scabs. The water in
which Jesus had been bathed seemed clearer than it had been before, and
as soon as the leprous child had been dipped into it, the scales of his
leprosy fell off him to the ground and the child was cleansed. The
woman was beside herself with joy and tried to embrace Mary and the
Infant Jesus, but Mary put out her hand and would not let her touch
either herself or Jesus. Mary told the woman that she was to dig a well
deep down to the rock and pour this water into it; this would give the
well the same healing power. She spoke long with her, and I think the
woman promised to leave this place at the first opportunity. The people
were extremely happy at the restoration of their child to health, and
showed him to their comrades who came in and out during the night,
telling them of the blessing that had befallen them. The new arrivals,
some of them boys, stood round the Holy Family and gazed at them in
wonderment. It was all the more remarkable that these robbers were so
respectful to the Holy Family, because in the very same night, while
they were housing these holy guests, I saw them seizing some other
travelers who had been enticed into their lair by the light and driving
them into a great cave deep in the wood. This cave, whose entrance was
hidden and grown over by wild plants so that it could not be seen,
seemed to be their real dwelling-place. I saw several boys in this
cave, from seven to nine years of age, who had been stolen from their
parents; and there was an old woman who kept house there. I saw all
kinds of booty being brought in--clothes, carpets, meat, young kids,
sheep, and bigger animals too. The cave was big and contained an
abundance of things.
I saw that Mary slept little that night; she sat still on her couch
most of the time. They left early in the morning, well supplied with
provisions. The people of the place accompanied them a short way, and
led them past many trenches on to the right road. When the robbers took
leave of the Holy Family, the man said with deep emotion: Remember us
wherever you go.' At these words I suddenly saw a picture of the
Crucifixion, and saw the Good Thief saying to Jesus, Remember me when
You shall come into Your kingdom', and recognized in him the boy who
had been healed. The robber's wife gave up this way of life after some
time, and settled with other honest families at a later resting-place
of the Holy Family, where a spring of water and a garden of balsam
shrubs came into being.
19. THE WILDERNESS. SNAKES AND FLYING LIZARDS.
After this I again saw the Holy Family journeying through a desert, and
when they lost their way, I again saw various kinds of creeping beasts
approach them, lizards with bats' wings and snakes, but they were not
hostile and seemed only to want to show them the way. Later on, when
they had lost every trace of their path and direction, I saw them
guided by a very lovely miracle; on each side of the path the plant
called the rose of Jericho appeared with its curling leaves surrounding
the central flower and the upright stalk. They went up to it joyfully,
and on reaching it they saw in the distance another plant of it spring
up, and so throughout the whole desert. I saw, too, that it was
revealed to the Blessed Virgin that in later times the people of the
country would gather these flowers and sell them to passing strangers
to gain their bread. (I saw this happening afterwards.) The name of the
place sounded like Gase or Gose [? Gosen]. Then I saw them come to a
place called by a name like Lepe or Lape [? Pelusium]. There was a lake
there with ditches, canals, and high embankments. They crossed the
water on a raft with a sort of big tub on it in which the donkey was
put. Mary sat with her Child on a piece of timber. Two ugly, brown,
half-naked men with flattened noses and protruding lips ferried them
over. They passed only the outlying houses of this place, and the
people here were so rough and unsympathetic that the travelers went on
without speaking to anyone. I think that this was the first heathen
town. They had been ten days in the Jewish country and ten days in the
desert.
I now saw the Holy Family on Egyptian territory. They were in flat
country, with green pastures here and there on which cattle were
feeding. I saw trees to which idols had been fastened in the shape of
infants wrapped in broad swaddling-bands inscribed with figures or
letters. Here and there I saw people thick-set and fat, dressed like
the cotton-spinners whom I once saw near the frontiers of the three
kings. I saw these people hurrying to worship their idols. The Holy
Family went into a shed; there were beasts in it, but these went out to
make room for them. Their provisions had given out, and they had
neither bread nor water. Nobody gave them anything, and Mary was hardly
able to feed her Child. They did, indeed, endure every human misery. At
last some shepherds came to water the beasts at a closed spring, and at
Joseph's urgent request gave them a little water. Then I saw the Holy
Family going through a wood, exhausted and helpless. On coming out of
it they saw a tall, slender date palm with its fruit growing all
together like a bunch of grapes at the very top of the tree. Mary went
up to the tree with the Infant Jesus in her arms, and prayed, lifting
the Child up to it; the tree bowed down its head to them, as if it were
kneeling, so that they were able to pick all its fruit. [162] The tree
remained in that position. I saw a rabble of people from the last town
following the Holy Family, and I saw Mary distributing the fruit from
the tree among the many naked children who were running after her.
About a quarter of an hour from the first tree they came to an
unusually big sycamore tree with a hollow trunk. They had got out of
sight of the people who were following them, and hid in the tree so as
to let them pass by. They spent the night here.
20. THE DESERT. A SPRING ARISES FROM MARY'S PRAYER.
Next day they continued through waste and sandy deserts, and I saw them
sitting on a sand-hill quite exhausted, for they had no water with
them. The Blessed Virgin prayed to God, and I saw an abundant spring of
water gush forth at her side and run in streams on the ground. Joseph
leveled a little sand-hill and made a basin for the water, digging a
little channel to carry off the overflow. They refreshed themselves
with the water and Mary washed the Infant Jesus. Joseph watered the
donkey and filled the water-skin. I saw tortoises, and ugly creatures
like big lizards coming to drink at the water. They did the Holy Family
no harm, but looked at them in a friendly way. The stream of water
flowed in a wide circle, disappearing again in the ground near its
source. The space which it enclosed was wonderfully blessed: it soon
became green and produced the most delicious balsam shrubs, which grew
big enough to give refreshment to the Holy Family on their return from
Egypt. Later it became famous as a balsam garden. A number of people
came to settle there; amongst them, I think, the mother of the leprous
child who had been healed in the robbers' den. Later I had visions of
this place. A beautiful hedge of balsam shrubs surrounded the garden,
in the middle of which were big fruit trees. Later a deep well was dug
there, from which an abundant supply of water was drawn by a wheel
turned by an ox. This water was mixed with the water from Mary's well
so as to supply the whole garden. The water from the new well would
have been harmful if used unmixed. It was shown me that the oxen who
turned the wheel did no work from midday on Saturday till Monday
morning.
21. HELIOPOLIS, OR ON.
After refreshing themselves here they journeyed to a great city called
Heliopolis or On. It had wonderful buildings, but much of it had been
laid waste. When the children of Israel were in Egypt, the Egyptian
priest Potiphera lived here, and had in his house Asenath (the daughter
of Dinah of the Shechemites) whom Joseph married. [163] Here also
Dionysius the Areopagite lived at the time of Christ's death. The city
had been devastated by war, but numbers of people had made themselves
homes in the ruined buildings.
The Holy Family crossed a very high bridge over a broad river which
seemed to me to have several arms. They came to an open place in front
of the city-gate, which was surrounded by a kind of promenade. Here
there was a pedestal, thicker below than above, surmounted by a great
idol with an ox's head bearing in its arms something like a child in
swaddling-bands. The idol was surrounded by a circle of stones like
benches or tables, and people came in crowds from the city to lay their
offerings on them. Not far from this idol was a great tree under which
the Holy Family sat down to rest. They had rested there for only a
short time when there came an earthquake, and the idol swayed and fell
to the ground. [164] There was an uproar among the people, and a crowd
of canal-workers ran up from near at hand. A good man who had
accompanied the Holy Family on their way here (I think he was a
drain-digger) led them hurriedly into the town, and they were leaving
the place where the idol had stood when the frightened crowd observed
them and began assailing them with threats and abuse for having been
the cause of the idol's collapse. They had not, however, time to carry
out their threats, for another shock came which uprooted and engulfed
the great tree till nothing but its roots showed above ground. The
gaping space where the idol had stood became full of dark and dirty
water, in which the whole idol disappeared except for its horns. Some
of the most evil among the raging mob were swallowed up in this dark
pool. Meanwhile the Holy Family went quietly into the city, and took up
their abode near a great heathen temple in the thickness of a wall,
where there were a great number of empty rooms.
[Catherine Emmerich also communicated the following fragments of
visions of the subsequent life of the Holy Family in Heliopolis or On:]
Once at a later time I came over the sea to Egypt, and found the Holy
Family still living in the great devastated city. It is very extensive,
and is built beside a great river with many arms. The city can be seen
from afar, standing high up. In many places the river flows underneath
the buildings. The people cross the arms of the river on rafts which
lie there in the water ready for use. I saw quite astonishingly huge
buildings in ruins, great masses of solid masonry, halves of towers,
and whole, or nearly whole, temples. I saw pillars as big as towers,
with winding staircases outside. I saw high tapering pillars completely
covered with strange figures, and also a number of big figures like
reclining dogs with human heads.
The Holy Family lived in the galleries of a great stone building
supported at one side by short thick pillars, some square, and some
round. People had built themselves dwellings against and under these
pillars; above the building ran a road with much traffic on it; it
passed a great heathen temple with two courts. In this building was a
space with a wall on one side of it and on the other a row of short
thick pillars. In front of this Joseph had constructed a light wooden
building, divided off by wooden partitions, for them to live in. I saw
them there all together. The donkeys were there, too, but separated by
screens such as Joseph always used to make. I noticed for the first
time that they had a little altar against the wall, hidden behind one
of these screens--a little table covered with a red cloth and a
transparent white one over it. There was a lamp above it, and they used
to pray there. Later I saw that Joseph had arranged a workshop in his
home, and also that he often went out to work. He made long staffs with
knobs at the end, and little low round three-legged stools with a
handle at the back to carry them by. He also made baskets and light
wicker screens. These were afterwards smeared with some substance which
made them solid, and were then used to make huts and compartments
against and in the massive masonry of the walls. He also made little
light hexagonal or octagonal towers out of long thin planks, ending in
a point crowned by a knob. These had an opening and could be used to
sit in like sentry-boxes. They had steps leading up to them. I saw
little towers like these here and there in front of the heathen
temples, and also on the flat roofs. People sat inside them. They were
perhaps sentry-boxes, or little summer-houses used to give shade.
I saw the Blessed Virgin weaving carpets. I also saw her with other
work; she had a stick beside her with a lump fastened to the top of it,
but I do not know what she was doing, whether spinning or something
else. I often saw people visiting her and the Infant Jesus, who lay in
a sort of cradle on the floor beside her. Sometimes I saw this cradle
raised on a stand like a sawing-trestle. I saw the Child lying very
contentedly in His cradle, sometimes with His arms hanging out on each
side. Once I saw Him sitting up in it. Mary sat close by knitting, with
a basket at her side. There were three women with her.
The people in this half-destroyed city were dressed just like those
cotton-spinning people whom I saw when I went to meet the three kings,
except that they wore aprons, like short skirts. There were not many
Jews here, and they seemed to live here on sufferance. North of
Heliopolis, between it and the Nile, which there divides into many
arms, was the land of Gessen. Amongst its canals was a place where a
large number of Jews lived. Their religion had become very degraded.
Some of these Jews became acquainted with the Holy Family, and Mary
made various things for them, in return for which they gave her bread
and provisions. The Jews in the land of Gessen had a temple which they
likened to Solomon's temple, but it was very different. [165]
22. HELIOPOLIS, ON. JOSEPH BUILDS A PLACE FOR JEWISH PRAYER.
I again saw the Holy Family in Heliopolis. They were still living near
the heathen temple under the vaulting of the massive walls. Not far off
Joseph built a place of prayer in which the Jews living in the city
assembled together with the Holy Family. Before this they had had no
meeting-place for prayer. The room had a lightly built dome above it,
which they could open so as to be under the open sky. In the middle of
the room stood a sacrificial table or altar, covered with white and
red, and having scrolls upon it. The priest or teacher was a very old
man. The men and women were not so strictly separated at their prayers
as in the Promised Land: the men stood on one side and the women on the
other. I had a sight of the Blessed Virgin visiting this place of
prayer with the Infant Jesus for the first time. She sat on the ground
leaning on one arm; the Child was sitting before her in a little
sky-blue dress, and she put His hands together on His breast. Joseph
stood behind her, as he always does here, though the other men and
women stand and sit in separate groups on each side of the room. I was
often shown how the little Jesus was already growing bigger, and how He
was often visited by other children. He could already speak and run
quite well; He was much with Joseph, and I think went with him when he
worked away from home. He wore a little dress like a shirt, knitted or
woven in one piece. Some of the idols fell down in the temple near
which they lived, just as the statue near the gate had collapsed on
their entry into the city; many people said that this was a sign of the
wrath of the gods against the Holy Family, and in consequence they
suffered various persecutions.
23. THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS.
Towards the middle of Jesus' second year the Blessed Virgin was told of
Herod's Massacre of the Innocents by an angel appearing to her in
Heliopolis. She and Joseph were greatly distressed, and the Child Jesus
wept that whole day. I saw what follows.
When the three kings did not return to Jerusalem, Herod's anxiety
decreased to some extent; he was at that time much occupied with family
affairs. His anxiety revived again, however, when various reports
reached him about Simeon's and Anna's prophecies in the Temple at the
Presentation of the Infant Jesus. At this moment the Holy Family had
been some time in Nazareth.
Under various pretexts he dispatched soldiers to different places round
Jerusalem, such as Gilgal, Bethlehem, and Hebron, and ordered a census
of the children to be made. The soldiers remained, I think, about nine
months in these places. Herod was in the meantime in Rome, [166] and it
was not until soon after his return that the children were massacred.
John the Baptist was two years old when it happened, and had again been
for some time at home with his parents in secret. Before Herod issued
the order that all mothers were to bring before the authorities their
male children up to two years old, Elizabeth had been warned by the
appearance of an angel and had once more fled into the wilderness with
her little son. Jesus was nearly eighteen months old and could already
run about. [167] The children were massacred in seven different places.
The mothers had been promised rewards for their fruitfulness. They came
from their homes in the surrounding country to the government offices
in the various towns, bringing with them their little boys in holiday
dress. The husbands were turned back, and the mothers were separated
from their children. These were stabbed by the soldiers behind the
walls of lonely courtyards; their bodies were heaped together and then
buried in trenches.
[Catherine Emmerich communicated her vision of the Massacre of the
Innocents on March 8 ^th, 1821, i.e. a year after her account of the
Flight into Egypt, so that it may be presumed that the massacre took
place a year later than the Flight.]
This afternoon I saw the mothers with their little sons up to two years
of age come to Jerusalem from Hebron, Bethlehem, and a third place.
Herod had sent soldiers there, and had later communicated his orders
through the authorities of these towns. The women came to the city in
separate groups. Some had two children with them and rode on donkeys.
They came to the city in joyful expectation, for they thought they were
to receive a reward for their fruitfulness. They were all taken into a
large building, and the men accompanying them were sent home. This
building was somewhat isolated; it was not far from the house where
later Pilate lived. It was so enclosed that it was difficult to see
from outside what was happening within it. It must once have been a
place of execution, for I saw in its courtyard stone pillars and blocks
with chains fastened to them, as well as trees which were tied together
and then allowed to spring apart so as to tear in pieces the men
fastened to them. It was a dark, strong building, and its courtyard was
quite as big as the graveyard on one side of Duelmen parish church. A
gate led through two walls into this courtyard, which was enclosed by
buildings on three sides. To the right and left these were one story
high; the center one had two stories and looked like an ancient
deserted synagogue. There were gates opening into the courtyard from
all three buildings.
The mothers were led through the courtyard into the two side-buildings
and there imprisoned. At first I had the impression of their being in a
kind of hospice or inn. They became alarmed when they saw themselves
deprived of liberty and began to weep and moan, continuing their
laments throughout the whole night.
[On the next day, March 9 ^th, she said:] This afternoon I saw a
terrible picture. I saw the Massacre of the Innocents taking place in
that house of execution. The big building at the back of the court was
two stories high: the lower story consisted of a great deserted hall
like a prison or a guard-room; above it was a large room with windows
looking down into the courtyard. I saw a number of officials assembled
there as if in a court of justice; before them was a table on which lay
scrolls. I think Herod was there, too, for I saw a man in a red cloak
lined with white fur with little black tails on it. He was wearing a
crown. I saw him, surrounded by others, looking out of the window of
the room.
The mothers were summoned one by one with their children from the
side-buildings into the great hall below the building at the back of
the courtyard. As they came in, their children were removed from them
by soldiers and taken through the gate into the courtyard, where some
twenty soldiers were at the murderous work of thrusting swords and
spears into their throats and hearts. Some were children still at the
breast, wrapped in swaddling-bands; others were tiny boys wearing long
embroidered dresses. They did not trouble to take off their clothes,
they ran their swords through their throats and hearts, and then seized
their bodies by an arm or leg and flung them onto a heap. It was a
ghastly sight. The mothers were thrust back one by one by the soldiers
into the great hall. When they saw what was done to their children,
they raised a terrible outcry, clinging to each other and tearing their
hair. They were so closely packed at the end that they could hardly
move. I think the massacre went on until towards evening.
The children's bodies were afterwards buried in a pit in the same
courtyard. Their number was shown to me, but I have no clear
recollection of it. I think it was 700, and another number with 7 or 17
in it. The number was explained to me by an expression in which I
remember a sound like Ducen': I think I had to reckon two c's together
several times. [168]
I was absolutely horrified by what I had seen, and did not know where
it had happened: I thought it was here. It was only when I woke up that
I was able gradually to recollect myself. The next night I saw the
mothers being taken back by the soldiers to their homes, bound, and in
separate groups. The place of the Massacre of the Innocents in
Jerusalem was used later as a court of justice; it was not far from
Pilate's judgment seat, but by his time it had been a good deal
altered. At Christ's death I saw the grave of the massacred children
fall in and saw their souls appear and depart from thence.
24. THE BOY JOHN ESCAPES AGAIN TO THE WILDERNESS.
I was shown how Elizabeth, warned by the angel, once more fled into the
desert with the little John to escape the Massacre of the Innocents.
Elizabeth searched for a long time till she found a cave which seemed
to her sufficiently hidden, and then stayed there with the boy for
about forty days. When she went home, an Essene from the community on
Mount Horeb came to the boy in the wilderness, brought him food, and
gave him all the help he needed. This Essene (whose name I keep
forgetting) was a relation of Anna of the Temple. He came at first
every eight days, then every fourteen; but in a short time John no
longer needed help, for he was soon more at home in the wilderness than
among men. It was ordained by God that he should grow up in the
wilderness without contact with mankind and innocent of their sins.
Like Jesus, he never went to school; the Holy Ghost taught him in the
wilderness. I often saw at his side a light, or shining figures like
angels. The desert here was not waste and barren; many plants and
bushes grew in it, bearing many kinds of berries, and among the rocks
were strawberries, which John picked and ate as he passed. He was
uncommonly familiar with the beasts, and especially with the birds:
they flew to him and perched on his shoulders, he spoke to them and
they seemed to understand him and to act as his messengers. He wandered
along the banks of the streams, and was just as familiar with the
fishes. They swam near to him when he called them, and followed him in
the water as he went along the bank.
I saw now that he moved far away from his home, perhaps because of the
danger which threatened him. He was so friendly with the beasts that
they helped him and warned him. They led him to their nests and lairs,
and he fled with them into their hiding-holes if men came near. He
lived upon fruit, berries, roots, and herbs. He had no need to search
long for them; he either knew himself where they grew, or the beasts
showed him. He always had his sheepskin and his little staff, and from
time to time went still deeper into the wilderness. Sometimes he would
go nearer his home. Several times he rejoined his parents, who were
always longing for him. I think they must have known about each other
by revelation, for whenever Elizabeth and Zechariah wanted to see him,
he always came from a long way off to meet them.
25. TRAIN TO MATAREA. AN IDOL FALLS AT THE FAMILY'S PASSING.
After staying in Heliopolis for a year and a half, until Jesus was
about two years old, the Holy Family left the city because of lack of
work and various persecutions. They moved southwards in the direction
of Memphis. When they passed through a small town not far from
Heliopolis and sat down to rest in the open porch of a heathen temple,
the idol fell down and broke in pieces. (It had the head of an ox with
three horns, and there were holes in its body in which sacrifices were
placed to be burnt.) This caused an uproar amongst the heathen priests,
who seized and threatened the Holy Family. As the priests were
consulting together, one of them said that for his part he thought it
wise to commend themselves to the God of these people, reminding them
of the plagues that had befallen their ancestors when they persecuted
the Israelites, and how in the night before their exodus the firstborn
had died in every Egyptian house. They followed his advice and
dismissed the Holy Family unmolested.
They made their way to Troja, a place on the east bank of the Nile,
opposite Memphis. It was a big town, but filthy. They thought of
staying here, but were not taken in; indeed, they could not even obtain
the drink of water or the few dates for which they asked. Memphis was
on the west bank of the Nile, which was here very broad, with islands.
Part of the city was on the east bank, and here in the time of Pharaoh
was a great palace with gardens and a high tower, to the top of which
Pharaoh's daughter used often to ascend to survey the country round. I
saw the place where the child Moses was found among the tall rushes.
Memphis was composed as it were of three different towns, one on each
side of the Nile, and another called Babylon which seemed to belong to
it. This was farther downstream on the east bank. Indeed, in Pharaoh's
time the whole region round the Nile between Heliopolis, Babylon, and
Memphis was so covered with canals, buildings, and stone embankments
that it all seemed to form one uninterrupted city. Now, at the time of
the Holy Family's visit, it had all become separated with great waste
spaces between. From Troja they went northwards down-stream towards
Babylon, which was ill-built, dirty, and desolate. They skirted this
city between it and the Nile, and retraced their steps for some
distance. They went down-stream, following an embankment along which
Jesus traveled later, when He journeyed through Arabia to Egypt after
the raising of Lazarus before meeting His disciples again at Jacob's
Well at Sychar. They traveled down-stream for some two hours; there
were ruined buildings at intervals all along their path. They had to
cross a small arm of the river or canal, and came to a place whose name
as it was at that time I cannot remember; afterwards it was called
Matarea, and was near Heliopolis. [169] This place, which lay on a
promontory surrounded by water on two sides, was very desolate. Its
scattered buildings were mostly very badly made of palm wood and thick
mud, roofed with reeds. Joseph found much work here in strengthening
the houses with wattles and building galleries onto them.
In this town the Holy Family lived in a dark vaulted room in a lonely
quarter at the landward side of the town, not far from the gate by
which they had entered. As before, Joseph built a room in front of the
vaulted one. Here, too, when they arrived, an idol fell down in a small
temple, and afterwards all the idols fell. Here, too, a priest pacified
the people by reminding them of the plagues of Egypt. Later, when a
little congregation of Jews and converted heathen had gathered round
the Holy Family, the priests handed over to them the little temple
where the idol had fallen, and Joseph arranged it as a synagogue. He
became, as it were, the father of the congregation, and introduced the
proper singing of the psalms, for their previous services had been very
disorderly. There were only a few very poor Jews living here in
wretched holes and ditches, though in the Jewish town between On and
the Nile there were many Jews and they had a regular temple there. They
had, however, fallen into dreadful idolatry; they had a golden calf, a
figure with an ox's head surrounded by little figures of animals like
pole-cats or ferrets with little canopies over them. These were animals
which protected people against crocodiles. They also had an imitation
Ark of the Covenant, with horrible things in it. They carried on a
revolting idolatrous worship, which consisted of immoral practices
performed in a subterranean passage and supposed to bring about the
coming of the Messiah. They were very obstinate and refused to amend
their lives. Afterwards many of them left this place and came to where
the Holy Family lived, not more than two hours' journey away. Owing to
the many dykes and canals, they could not travel direct but had to make
a detour round On.
The Jews in the land of Gessen had already become acquainted with the
Holy Family in the city of On, and Mary had done much work for them
knitting, weaving, and sewing. She would never work at things which
were superfluous or mere luxuries, only at what was necessary and at
praying garments. I saw women bringing her work to do which they
wanted, from vanity, to be made in a fashionable style; and I saw Mary
giving back the work, however much she needed the money. I saw, too,
that the women insulted her vilely.
26. MATAREA AND ITS POVERTY.
To begin with, they had a very hard time in Matarea. There was great
shortage of good water and wood. The inhabitants cooked with dry grass
or reeds. The Holy Family generally had cold food to eat. Joseph was
given a great deal of work in improving the huts, but the people there
treated him just like a slave, giving him only what they liked;
sometimes he brought home some money for his work, sometimes none. The
inhabitants were very clumsy at building their huts. Wood was lacking,
and though I saw trunks of trees lying about here and there, I noticed
that there were no tools for dealing with them. Most of the people had
nothing but stone and bone knives like turf-cutters. Joseph had brought
his necessary tools with him. The Holy Family soon arranged their
dwelling a little. Joseph divided the room very conveniently by light
wicker screens; he prepared a proper fireplace and made stools and
little low tables. The people here all ate off the ground.
They lived here for several years, and I have seen many scenes from
Jesus' childhood. I saw where Jesus slept. In the thickness of the wall
of Mary's sleeping-room I saw a niche hollowed out by Joseph in which
was Jesus' couch. Mary slept beside it, and I have often seen her
during the night kneeling before Jesus' couch and praying to God.
Joseph slept in another room.
I also saw a praying-place which Joseph had arranged in their dwelling.
It was in a separate passage. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin had their
own special places, and the Child Jesus also had His own little corner,
where He prayed sitting, standing, or kneeling. The Blessed Virgin had
a kind of little altar before which she prayed. A little table, covered
with red and white, was let down like a flap before a cupboard in the
wall, of which it generally formed the door. In the thickness of the
wall were preserved sacred relics. I saw little bushy plants in pots
shaped like chalices. I saw the end of St. Joseph's staff with its
blossom, whereby the lot had fallen upon him in the Temple to become
Mary's spouse. It was fixed in a box an inch and a half in thickness.
Besides this, I saw another precious relic, but can no longer explain
what it really was. In a transparent box I saw five little white sticks
of the thickness of big straws. They stood crossed and as if tied in
the middle; at the top they were curly and broader, like a little
sheaf. [She crossed her fingers to explain and spoke also of bread.]
27. ELIZABETH TAKES THE BOY JOHN AGAIN TO THE WILDERNESS.
During the sojourn of the Holy Family in Egypt the child John must have
again stayed in secret with his parents at Juttah, for I saw him at the
age of four or five being once more taken into the wilderness by
Elizabeth. When they left the house, Zechariah was not there; I think
he had gone away beforehand so as not to see the departure, for he
loved John beyond measure. He had, however, given him his blessing, for
each time he went away he used to bless Elizabeth and John.
Little John had a sheepskin hanging over his left shoulder round his
breast and back, fastened together under his right arm. Afterwards in
the desert I saw him wearing this sheepskin sometimes over both
shoulders, sometimes across his breast, sometimes round his waist--just
as it suited him. This sheepskin was all that the boy wore. He had
brownish hair darker than Jesus', and he still carried in his hand the
little white staff which he had brought from home before. I always saw
him with it in the wilderness.
I now saw him hurrying along hand in hand with his mother Elizabeth, a
tall woman with a small face and delicate features. She was much
wrapped up and walked quickly. The child often ran on ahead; he was
quite natural and childlike, but not thoughtless. At first their way
led them northwards for some time, and they had water on their right
hand; then I saw them crossing a little stream. There was no bridge,
and they crossed on logs lying in the water, which Elizabeth, who was a
very resolute woman, ferried across with a branch. After crossing the
stream they turned more eastwards and entered a rocky ravine, the upper
part of which was waste and stony, though the lower slopes were thick
with bushes and fruits, among them many strawberries, of which the boy
ate one here and there.
After they had gone some way into this ravine, Elizabeth said good-bye
to the boy. She blessed him, pressed him to her heart, kissed him on
his forehead and on both cheeks, and started on her journey home. She
turned round several times on her way, and wept as she looked back
towards John. The boy himself was quite untroubled and wandered on
farther into the ravine with sure steps.
As during these visions I was very ill, God granted me the favor of
feeling as if I were myself a child in presence of all that happened.
It seemed to me that I was a child of John's own age, accompanying him
on his way; and I was afraid that he would go too far from his mother
and would never find his way borne again. Soon, however, I was
reassured by a voice which said: Do not be troubled. The boy well knows
what he is about.' Then I thought that I went quite alone with him into
the wilderness as if he had been a familiar childhood's playmate of
mine, and I saw many of the things that happened to him. Yes, while we
were together, John himself told me much about his life in the
wilderness. For example, how he practiced self-denial in every way and
mortified his senses, how his vision grew ever brighter and clearer,
and how he had been taught in an indescribable way, by everything round
him.
All this did not astonish me, for long ago as a child, when I was all
by myself watching our cows, I used to live in familiar fellowship with
John in the wilderness. I often longed to see him, and used then to
call into the bushes in my country dialect: Little John with his little
stick and his sheepskin on his shoulder is to come to me.' And often,
little John with his little stick and his sheepskin on his shoulder did
come to me, and we two children played together. He told me and taught
me all kinds of good things, and it never seemed to me strange that in
the wilderness he learnt so much from plants and beasts. For when I was
a child, whether in the woods, on the moors, in the fields, with the
cows, plucking ears of corn, pulling grass, or gathering herbs, I used
to look at every little leaf and every flower as at a book. Every bird,
every beast that ran past me, everything around me, taught me
something. Every shape and color that I saw, every little veined leaf,
filled my mind with many deep thoughts. But if I spoke of these, people
either listened with surprise or else, more often, laughed at me, so
that at last I accustomed myself to keeping silence about such things.
I used to think (and sometimes think still) that it must be so with
everyone, and that nowhere could one learn better, because here God
Himself had written our alphabet for us.
So now, when I followed again in my visions the boy John into the
wilderness, I saw, as before, all that he was about. I saw him playing
with flowers and beasts. The birds especially were at home with him.
They flew onto his head as he walked or as he knelt in prayer. I often
saw him lay his staff across the branches; then at his call flocks of
bright-colored birds came flying to perch on it in a row. He gazed at
them and spoke familiarly with them as if they were his schoolchildren.
I saw him, too, following wild animals into their lairs, feeding them
and watching them attentively.
28. HEROD HAS ZECHARIAH CAPTURED, QUESTIONED, AND KILLED. ELIZABETH DIES.
When John was about six years old, Elizabeth took the opportunity of
Zechariah's absence on a journey to the Temple with herds for sacrifice
to pay a visit to her son in the wilderness. Zechariah, I think, never
went to see him there, so that he might truthfully say, if asked by
Herod where his son was, that he did not know. In order, however, to
satisfy his intense longing to see John, the latter came several times
from the wilderness to his parents house in great secrecy and by night,
and stayed there a short time. Probably his guardian angel led him
there at the right moment when there was no danger. I saw him always
guided and protected by higher Powers, and sometimes accompanied by
shining figures like angels.
John was destined to live in the wilderness, separated from the world
and from ordinary human food, and to be taught and trained by the
Spirit of God. Providence so ordained matters that outer circumstances
made him take refuge in the desert to which his natural instincts drew
him with irresistible force; from his earliest childhood I always saw
him thoughtful and solitary, just as the Child Jesus fled to Egypt as
the result of a divine warning, so did John, His precursor, fly to a
hiding place in the wilderness. Suspicion was directed to him, too, for
there had been much talk in the land about John ever since his early
days. It was well known that wonders had attended his birth, and that
he was often seen surrounded by light, for which reasons Herod was
particularly suspicious of him. He had caused Zechariah to be
questioned several times as to the whereabouts of John, but had never
yet laid hands on the old man. This time, however, as he was on his way
to the Temple, he was attacked by Herod's soldiers in a sunken road
outside the Bethlehem Gate of Jerusalem, from which the city was not
yet visible. These soldiers, who had been lying in wait for him,
dragged him brutally to a prison on the slope of the Hill of Sion,
where later I used often to see Jesus' disciples making their way up to
the Temple. The old man was here subjected to ill-treatment and even
torture, in order to force from him a confession of his son's
whereabouts. When this had no effect, he was, by Herod's soldiers,
stabbed to death. [170] His friends buried his body not far from the
Temple. This was not the Zechariah who was murdered between the Temple
and the altar. When the dead came out of their graves at the death of
Christ, I saw the grave of that Zechariah falling out of the Temple
walls near the praying-room of the aged Simeon, and himself coming
forth from it. At that moment several other secret graves in the Temple
burst open. On the occasion when that Zechariah was murdered between
the Temple and the altar, there were many disputes going on about the
descent of the Messiah, and about certain rights and privileges in the
Temple of various families. For instance, not all families were allowed
to have their children brought up in the Temple. (This reminds me that
I once saw in the care of Anna in the Temple a boy whose name I have
forgotten; I think he was a king's son.) Zechariah was the only one
among the disputants who was murdered. His father was called Barachiah.
[171] I saw that later the bones of that Zechariah were found again,
but have forgotten the details.
Elizabeth came home from the desert expecting to find Zechariah
returned from Jerusalem. John accompanied her for some of the way; when
they parted, she blessed him and kissed him on the forehead, and he
hastened back, untroubled, to the wilderness. On reaching home
Elizabeth heard the terrible news of the murder of Zechariah. She
grieved and lamented so sorely that she could find no peace or rest at
home, and so left Juttah for ever and hastened to join John in the
wilderness. She died there not long after, before the return of the
Holy Family from Egypt. She was buried in the wilderness by the Essene
from Mount Horeb who had always helped little John.
After this John moved farther into the wilderness. He left the rocky
ravine for more open country, and I saw him arrive at a small lake in
the desert. The shore was flat and covered with white sand, and I saw
him go far out into the water and all the fishes swimming fearlessly up
to him. He was quite at home with them. He lived here for some time,
and I saw that he had made himself in the bushes a sleeping-hut of
branches. It was quite low, and only just big enough for him to lie
down in. Here and later I saw him accompanied very often by shining
figures or angels, with whom he associated humbly and devoutly, but
unafraid and in childlike confidence. They seemed to teach him and to
make him notice all kinds of things. I saw that his staff had a little
cross-piece, so that it formed a cross; fastened to it was a broad band
of bark which he waved about in play like a little flag.
A daughter of Elizabeth's sister now lived in John's family house at
Juttah near Hebron. It was well supplied with everything. When John was
grown-up he came there once in secret, and then went still farther into
the wilderness, remaining there until he appeared among mankind. Of
this I shall tell later.
29. MATAREA. THE HOLY VIRGIN DISCOVERS A SPRING NEAR THEIR HOUSE.
In Matarea, where the inhabitants had to quench their thirst with the
muddy water of the Nile, a fountain sprang up as before in answer to
Mary's prayers. At first they suffered great want, and were obliged to
live on fruit and bad water. It was long since they had had any good
water, and Joseph was making ready to take his water-skins on the
donkey to fetch water from the balsam spring in the desert, when in
answer to her prayer an angel appeared to the Blessed Virgin and told
her to look for a spring behind their house. I saw her go beyond the
enclosure round their dwelling to an open space on a lower level
surrounded by broken-down embankments. A very big old tree stood here.
the Blessed Virgin had a stick in her hand with a little shovel at the
end of it, such as people in that country often carried on their
journeys. She thrust this into the ground near the tree, and thereupon
a beautiful clear stream of water gushed forth.
She ran joyfully to call Joseph, who on digging out the spring
discovered that it had been lined with masonry below, but had dried up
and was choked with rubbish. Joseph repaired and cleaned it, and
surrounded it with beautiful new stonework. Near this spring, on the
side from which Mary had approached it, was a big stone, just like an
altar, and, indeed, I think it had once been an altar, but I forget in
what connection. Here the Blessed Virgin used to dry Jesus' clothes and
wrappings in the sun after washing them. This spring remained unknown
and was used only by the Holy Family until Jesus was big enough to do
various little commissions, such as fetching water for His Mother. I
once saw that He brought other children to the spring, and made a cup
with a leaf for them to drink from. The children told this to their
parents, so others came to the spring, but, as a rule, it was used only
by the Jews. I saw Jesus fetching water for His Mother for the first
time. Mary was in her room kneeling in prayer, and Jesus crept out to
the spring with a skin and fetched water; that was the first time. Mary
was inexpressibly touched when she saw Him coming back, and begged Him
not to do it again, in case He were to fall into the water. Jesus said
that He would be very careful and that He wanted to fetch water for her
whenever she needed it.
The Child Jesus performed all kinds of services for His parents with
great attention and thoughtfulness. Thus I saw Him, when Joseph was
working near his home, running to fetch some tool which had been left
behind. He paid attention to everything. I am sure that the joy He gave
His parents must have outweighed all their sufferings. I also saw Jesus
going sometimes to the Jewish settlement, about a mile from Matarea. to
fetch bread in return for His Mother's work. The many loathsome beasts
to be found in this country did Him no harm; on the contrary, they were
very friendly with Him. I have seen Him playing with snakes.
The first time that He went alone to the Jewish settlement (I am not
sure whether it was in His fifth or seventh year) He was wearing a new
brown dress with yellow flowers round its edge which the Blessed Virgin
had made and embroidered for Him. He knelt down to pray on the way, and
I saw two angels appearing to Him and announcing the death of Herod the
Great. Jesus said nothing of this to His parents, why I do not know,
whether from humility or because the angel had forbidden Him to, or
because He knew that the time had not yet come for them to leave Egypt.
Once I saw Him going to the settlement with other Jewish children, and
when He returned home, I saw Him weeping bitterly over the degraded
state of the Jews living there.
29.1 THE SPRING AT MATAREA - DISCOVERED BY JOB.
The spring which appeared at Matarea in answer to the Blessed Virgin's
prayers was not a new one, but an old one which gushed forth afresh. It
had been choked but was still lined with masonry. I saw that Job had
been in Egypt long before Abraham and had dwelt on this spot in this
place. [172] It was he who found the spring, and he made sacrifices on
the great stone lying here. Job was the youngest of thirteen brothers.
His father was a great chieftain at the time of the building of the
Tower of Babel. His father had one brother who was Abraham's ancestor.
The tribes of these two brothers generally intermarried. Job's first
wife was of the tribe of Peleg: after many adventures, when he was
living in his third home, he married three more wives of the same
tribe. One of them bore him a son whose daughter married into the tribe
of Peleg and gave birth to Abraham's mother. Job was thus the
great-grandfather of Abraham's mother. Job's father was called Joktan,
a son of Eber. He lived to the north of the Caspian Sea, near a
mountain range one side of which is quite warm, while the other is cold
and ice-covered. There were elephants in that country. I do not think
elephants could have gone to the place where Job first went to set up
his own tribe, for it was very swampy there. That place was to the
north of a mountain range lying between two seas, the westernmost of
which was before the Flood a high mountain inhabited by evil angels by
whom men were possessed. [173] The country there was poor and marshy; I
think it is now inhabited by a race with small eyes, flat noses, and
high cheek-bones. It was here that Job's first misfortune befell him,
and he then moved southwards to the Caucasus and began his life again.
From here he made a great expedition to Egypt, a land which at that
time was ruled by foreign kings belonging to a shepherd people from
Job's fatherland. One of these came from Job's own country; another
came from the farthest country of the three holy kings. They ruled over
only a part of Egypt, and were later driven out by an Egyptian king.
[174] At one time there was a great number of these shepherd people all
collected together in one city; they had migrated to Egypt from their
own country.
The king of these shepherds from Job's country desired a wife for his
son from his family's tribe in the Caucasus, and Job brought this royal
bride (who was related to him) to Egypt with a great following. He had
thirty camels with him, and many menservants and rich presents. He was
still young--a tall man of a pleasing yellow-brown color, with reddish
hair. The people in Egypt were dirty brown in color. At that time Egypt
was not thickly populated; only here and there were large masses of
people. There were no great buildings either; these did not appear
until the time of the children of Israel.
The king showed Job great honor, and was unwilling to let him go away
again. He was very anxious for him to emigrate to Egypt with his whole
tribe, and appointed as his dwelling-place the city where afterwards
the Holy Family lived, which was then quite different. Job remained
five years in Egypt, and I saw that he lived in the same place where
the Holy Family lived, and that God showed him that spring. When
performing his religious ceremonies, he made sacrifice on the great
stone.
Job was to be sure a heathen, but he was an upright man who
acknowledged the true God and worshipped Him as the Creator of all that
he saw in nature, the stars, and the ever-changing light. He was never
tired of speaking with God of His wonderful creations. He worshipped
none of the horrible figures of beasts adored by the other races of
mankind in his time, but had thought out for himself a representation
of the true God. This was a small figure of a man with rays round its
head, and I think it had wings. Its hands were clasped under its
breast, and bore a globe on which was a ship on waves. Perhaps it was
meant to represent the Flood. When performing his religious ceremonies
he burnt grains before this little figure. Figures of this kind were
afterwards introduced into Egypt, sitting in a kind of pulpit with a
canopy above.
Job found a terrible form of idolatry here in this city, descending
from the heathen magical rites practiced at the building of the Tower
of Babel. They had an idol with a broad ox's head, rising to a point at
the top. Its mouth was open, and behind its head were twisted horns.
Its body was hollow, fire was made in it, and live children were thrust
into its glowing arms. I saw something being taken out of holes in its
body. The people here were horrible, and the land was full of dreadful
beasts. Great black creatures with fiery manes flew about in swarms,
scattering what seemed like fire as they flew. They poisoned everything
in their path, and the trees withered away under them. I saw other
animals with long hind-legs and short fore-legs, like moles; they could
leap from roof to roof. Then there were frightful creatures lurking in
hollows and between stones, which wound themselves round men and
strangled them. In the Nile I saw a heavy, awkward beast with hideous
teeth and thick black feet. It was the size of a horse and had
something pig-like about it. Besides these I saw many other ugly
creatures; but the people here were much more horrible than any of
them. Job, whom I saw clearing the evil beasts from around his dwelling
by his prayers, had such a horror of these godless folk that he often
broke out in loud reproaches of them, saying that he would rather live
with all these dreadful beasts than with the infamous inhabitants of
this land. I often saw him at sunrise gazing longingly towards his own
country, which hay a little to the south of the farthest country of the
three holy kings. Job saw prophetic pictures foreshadowing the arrival
in Egypt of the children of Israel; he also had visions of the
salvation of mankind and of the trials that awaited himself. He would
not be persuaded to stay in Egypt, and at the end of five years he and
his companions left the country.
There were intervals of calm between the great misfortunes that befell
Job: the first interval lasted nine years, the second seven, and the
third twelve. The words in the Book of Job: "And while he (the
messenger of evil) was yet speaking" mean "This misfortune of his was
still the talk of the people when the following befell him." [175] His
misfortunes came upon him in three different places. The last
calamity--and also the restoration of all his prosperity--happened when
he was hiving in a flat country directly to the east of Jericho.
Incense and myrrh were found here, and there was also a gold-mine with
smithies. At another time I saw much more about Job, which I will tell
later. For the present I will only say that Job's story of himself and
of his talking with God were written down at his dictation by two
trusty servants of his, like treasurers. Their names were Hai and Uis
or Ois. [176] This story was preserved by his descendants as a sacred
treasure, and was handed down from generation to generation until it
reached Abraham and his sons. It was used for purposes of instruction,
and came into Egypt with the children of Israel. Moses used it to
comfort and console the Israelites during the Egyptian oppression and
their journey through the desert, but in a summarized version, for it
was originally of much greater length, and a great deal of it would
have been incomprehensible to them. Solomon again remodeled it, so that
it is a religious work full of the wisdom of Job, Moses, and Solomon.
It was difficult to recognize the true history of Job from it, for the
names of persons and places had been changed to ones nearer Canaan, and
it was thought that Job was an Edomite because the last place where he
lived was inhabited long after his death by Edomites, the descendants
of Esau. Job might still have been alive when Abraham was born.
29.2 THE SPRING AT MATAREA - ABRAHAM LIVES A LONG TIME BY IT.
When Abraham was in Egypt, he also had his tents beside this spring,
and I saw him teaching the people here. [177] He lived in the country
several years with Sarah and a number of his sons and daughters whose
mothers had remained behind in Chaldea. His brother Lot was also here
with his family, but I do not remember what place of residence was
assigned to him. Abraham went to Egypt by God's command, firstly
because of a famine in the Land of Canaan, and secondly to fetch a
family treasure which had found its way to Egypt through a niece of
Sarah's mother. This niece was of the race of the shepherd-people
belonging to Job's tribe who had been rulers of part of Egypt. She had
gone there to be serving maid to the reigning family and had then
married an Egyptian. She was also the foundress of a tribe, but I have
forgotten its name. Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, was a descendant of
hers and was thus of Sarah's family. [178]
The woman had carried off this family treasure just as Rachel had
carried off Laban's household gods, and had sold it in Egypt for a
great sum. In this way it had come into the possession of the king and
the priests. This treasure was a genealogy of the children of Noah
(especially of the children of Shem) down to Abraham's time. It looked
like a scales hanging on several chains from inside a lid. [Please
refer to Figure 22.] This lid was made to shut down onto a sort of box
which enclosed the chains in it. The chains were made of triangular
pieces of gold linked together; the names of each generation were
engraved on these pieces, which were thick yellow coins, while the
links connecting them were pale like silver and thin. Some of the gold
pieces had a number of others hanging from them. The whole treasure was
bright and shining. I heard, but have forgotten, what was its value in
shekels. The Egyptian priests had made endless calculations in
connection with this genealogy, but never arrived at the right
conclusion.
Before Abraham came into their country, the Egyptians must have known,
from their astrologers and from the prophecies of their sorceresses,
that he and his wife came from the noblest of races and that he was to
be the father of a chosen people. They were always searching in their
prophetic books for noble races, and tried to intermarry with them.
This gave Satan the opportunity of attempting to debase the pure races
by leading the Egyptians astray into immorality and deeds of violence.
Abraham, fearing that he might be murdered by the Egyptians because of
the beauty of Sarah, his wife, had given out that she was his sister.
This was not a lie, since she was his step-sister, the daughter of his
father Terah by another wife (see Gen. 20.12). The King of Egypt caused
Sarah to be brought into his palace and wished to take her to wife.
Abraham and Sarah were then in great distress and besought God for
help, whereupon God punished the king with sickness, and all his wives
and most of the women in the city fell ill. The king, in alarm, caused
inquiry to be made, and when he heard that Sarah was Abraham's wife, he
gave her back to him, begging him to leave Egypt as soon as possible.
It was clear, he said, that Abraham and his wife were under the
protection of the gods.
Figure 22. Family treasure of Abraham -- a genealogy of Noah's children
down to Abraham's time.
The Egyptians were a strange people. On the one hand they were
extremely arrogant and considered themselves to be the greatest and
wisest among the nations. On the other hand they were excessively
cowardly and servile, and gave way when they were faced by a power
which they feared was greater than theirs. This was because they were
not sure of all their knowledge, most of which came to them in dark
ambiguous sooth-sayings, which easily produced conflicts and
contradictions. Since they were very credulous of wonders, any such
contradiction at once caused them great alarm.
Abraham approached the king very humbly with a request for corn. He won
his favor by treating him as a ruler over the nations, and received
many rich presents. When the King gave Sarah back to her husband and
begged him to leave Egypt, Abraham replied that he could not do this
unless he took with him the genealogy that belonged to him, describing
in detail the manner in which it had come to Egypt. The king then
summoned the priests, and they willingly gave Abraham back what
belonged to him, only asking that the whole transaction might first be
formally recorded, which was done. [179] Abraham then returned with his
following to the land of Canaan.
I have seen many things about the spring at Matarea right down to our
own times, and remember this much: already at the time of the Holy
Family it was used by lepers as a healing well. Much later a small
Christian church was built on the site of Mary's dwelling. Near the
high altar of this church one descended into the cave where the Holy
Family lived until Joseph had arranged their dwelling. I saw the spring
with human habitations round it, and I saw it being used for various
forms of skin eruptions. I also saw people bathing in it to cure
themselves of evil-smelling perspirations. That was when the
Mohammedans were there. I saw, too, that the Turks always kept a light
burning in the church over Mary's dwelling. They feared some misfortune
if they forgot to light it. In later times I saw the spring isolated
and at some distance from any houses. There was no longer a city there,
and wild fruit trees grew about it.
__________________________________________________________________
[146] Matt. 2.13-18. (SB)
[147] Since Matthew alone gives the account of the Magi and of the
Flight into Egypt, and Luke alone that of the Presentation, it is not
easy to decide the exact order of events. According to AC the Magi came
to Bethlehem before the Presentation, and the angel's warning came to
Joseph at Nazareth some time after it. If Jesus was by then nine months
old. In this case the words of Matt. 2.13, "And after they [the Magi]
were departed, behold an angel . . .", refer to the passage of over
seven months and a removal to Nazareth. This interval between the visit
of the Magi and the Flight into Egypt certainly offers an explanation
of a chronological problem. (SB)
[148] According to this account Joseph evidently intended to give up
the house at Nazareth, and presumably to carry out his plan of moving
to Bethlehem (cf. AC, p. 78 , and n. 128, p. 119 ). All this helps to
explain why we get the impression from Matt. 2.22-23 that Joseph really
wanted to settle in Judea but came to Nazareth almost faute de mieux.
(SB)
[149] Clearly the despised Samaritans, cf., e.g., John 4.9, 20 (where
their worship on Mount Garizim is mentioned). (SB)
[150] Fifteen years after Catherine Emmerich's death, when the writer
was putting together her account of the Flight into Egypt, he wondered
why the Holy Family should have remained in Nazara a whole day. It was
only then that he discovered that the Sabbath began on the evening of
March 2nd, 1821, so that the Holy Family must have kept it in secret
here, though Catherine Emmerich made no mention of this. (CB)
[151] The identification of Nazara, Legio, and Massaloth is uncertain,
but they are probably in the hill country south of the Vale of
Esdrelon, and are so placed by Fahsel. (SB)
[152] The Biblical references to all these places are given supra, p.
80 . (SB)
[153] The story of Elizabeth's concealing the boy John the Baptist is
found in Protev. 22, but with a typical addition in the fanciful detail
of the mountain splitting to receive them into hiding. (SB)
[154] David kept his father's sheep near Bethlehem: 1 Kings ( Sam.)
17.15. Bethlehem is about twelve miles from Mambre. (SB)
[155] In her general description of the Flight into Egypt she forgot to
mention this refuge of the Holy Family. The description given above is
taken from her daily account of Our Lord's ministry, at the time when,
after His baptism, He visited with some of His disciples all the places
near Bethlehem where His Mother had been with Him. She saw Jesus, after
His baptism by John, which she described on Friday, Sept. 28th, 1821,
staying in this cave with His disciples from Oct. 8th to Oct. 9th, and
she heard Him speak of the graces given in this place and of the
hardships and difficulties of the Flight into Egypt. He blessed this
cave and told them that one day a church would be built over it. On
Oct. 18th she said: This refuge of the Holy Family was later called
Mary's place of sojourn, and was visited by pilgrims who were, however,
ignorant of its real history. Later only poor people lived there.' She
gave a precise description of the place, and some time afterwards the
writer found to his great astonishment an account by the Minorite friar
Antonio Gonzalez of his journey to Jerusalem (Antwerp, 1679, Part I, p.
556), in which he stated that he had been in a village of Mary's', a
short mile on the left of the road from Hebron to Bethlehem, where she
had taken refuge on the Flight. It was, he said, on a hill, and a
church with three vaults and three doors was still standing there, with
a picture on its wall of Mary and her Child on the donkey, led by
Joseph. Below the hill on which stood the village and church was a
beautiful spring of water, known as Mary's fountain. All of this agrees
with the place described by Catherine Emmerich. Arvieux says in the
second volume of his Memoirs (Leipzig, 1783): Between Hebron and
Bethlehem we came through the village of the Blessed Virgin, who is
said to have rested here during her Flight.' (CB)
[156] None of the many details of the life of the young John the
Baptist in the desert are found in any available document. (SB)
[157] Catherine Emmerich heard Our Lord Himself relate this touching
incident in her visions of Our Lord's ministry. It was on January 14
^th (Tuesday, the 26 ^th day of the month Thebet) of the third year of
His ministry, in the house of John's parents at Juttah, in the presence
of the Blessed Virgin, Peter, John and three trusty disciples of the
Baptist. A carpet had been spread out before them, which had been
worked by Mary and Elizabeth after the Visitation: it had been
embroidered with many significant texts. Our Lord was speaking with
comforting words of the Baptist's murder, which had taken place on the
20 ^th of the month Thebet (Jan. 8 ^th) at Herod's birthday feast at
Machaerus. He spoke much about John on this occasion and said that He
had only seen him twice in the flesh; that time on the Flight to Egypt
and the second time at His baptism. (CB)
[158] The first mention by Catherine Emmerich of this inn was in her
account of Christ's ministry. On Oct. 8th after His baptism Our Lord
came here alone from the Valley of the Shepherds. He converted Reuben
and healed several sick people while His disciples waited for Him in
the cave of refuge near Ephraim. He taught at the places where the Holy
Family had rested and taken food, and explained to the inhabitants that
the grace given to them now was the fruit of the hospitality shown by
them to the Holy Family. On His journey between here and the cave near
Ephraim He passed by Hebron. A place called Anim or Anem, nine miles
south of Hebron in the district of Daroma, is mentioned by Jerome and
also by Eusebius. (CB) Anim is mentioned among the hill cities of Judah
in Jos. 15.50, together with Juttah (Douay Jota) in 55 and Hebron in
54. (SB)
[159] The apocryphal Ps-Matt. 18-19 includes details of wild beasts in
the desert on the way to Egypt, but the account is very fanciful and
tells how they wagged their tails in reverence, and so forth, and how
the Child Jesus spoke to the creatures and comforted His mother. (SB)
[160] The encounter with robbers occurs in the Arabic Gospel of the
Infancy, 23, where the robbers Titus and Dymachus are the future
thieves at the Crucifixion. According to AC it was at the robbers' hut
that a boy was cured of leprosy by being washed in Our Lord's
bath-water, and this boy (nameless) became the Good Thief at the
Crucifixion (infra, p. 146 ). The same Arabic source has the episode of
the bath-water on three occasions (17, 31, 32). In the apocryphal
Gospel of Nicodemus, 10, the Good Thief is called Dismas (his
traditional name), and the Bad Thief Gestas (or Gistas). (SB)
[161] We quote the whole of this incident, as well as many others of
the Flight into Egypt, from the accounts given by Catherine Emmerich of
the conversations with Jesus of Eliud, an aged Essene, who accompanied
Our Lord on His journey from Nazareth to be baptized by John. Eliud
said that Anna the prophetess had told him that she had heard of this
incident from the Blessed Virgin. (CB)
[162] The palm-tree that bowed appears (on the Flight) in Ps-Matt. 20,
but there the little Jesus is figured as addressing the tree and also
commanding it to straighten itself afterwards. (SB)
[163] Joseph married Asenath: Gen. 41.50. (SB)
[164] The idol falling when the Holy Family reached Egypt is mentioned
in Ps-Matt. 23 (all the idols) and in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy,
10, Cf. supra, p. 29 and n. (SB)
[165] The presence of a Jewish temple built on the ruins of
Leontopolis, on the outskirts of Heliopolis, is well known from
Josephus (Ant., XIII, iii, 1-4), who explains that it was built by
Onias (IV) after his flight from Palestine, c. 170 B.C., like indeed to
that at Jerusalem, but smaller and poorer '. Cf. also BJ, VII, x, 3.
(SB)
[166] This was recounted while Catherine Emmerich was seriously ill;
she mentioned several journeys and other matters connected with Herod's
family, but very obscurely. The statement that Herod had been in Rome
in the meantime was the only clear one. Some fifteen years after this
communication, the writer reread the history of Herod the Great given
by the Jewish historian Josephus, but found no mention of any journey
of Herod's to Rome at this time. (CB)
[167] It has already been observed (n. 148, p. 141 ) that Matt. 2.13,
according to AC, involves the passing of over seven months. Here we are
told that Jesus was nearly eighteen months old, so that Matt. 2.16,
Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded . . . sending killed . . .',
shows the passage of a further nine months to the murder of the
Innocents. The Gospel has no details beyond the fact of the massacre.
(SB)
[168] Perhaps this refers to the Roman numeral DCC =700 (AC always saw
Roman numerals). She mentions (supra, p. 149 ) that the massacres took
place in seven different places, and the Gospel ( Matt. 2.16) indicates
a whole district: Bethlehem and all the borders thereof.' (SB)
[169] Troja and Babylon near Memphis, and Matarea near Heliopolis or
On, are all readily identifiable in the region of the modern Cairo. At
Matarea it is said that the Tree of Our Lady' is still shown. The tree
is also mentioned in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, 24. (SB)
[170] The murder of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, is
recounted in Protev. 23, with subsequent portents added. (SB)
[171] The earlier Zechariah killed near the altar is in 2 Chr.
24.20-21. There is a well-known difficulty in Matt. 23.35, where this
Zechariah is called son of Barachiah', when 2 Chr. gives his father's
name as Joiada. It is generally agreed that the verse in Matt. includes
a scribal error, arising from the fact that the much better-known
Prophet Zechariah's father was called Barechiah ( Zech. 1.1), and that
the two names were thus linked in the scribe's memory. This supposition
is borne out by the omission of a father's name in Matt. in Codex
Sinaiticus. The parallel in Luke 11.51 has no father's name. Yet all
texts of Matt. before the discovery of Sinaiticus in 1859 include the
name, and it is hardly surprising that AC should do so too. (SB)
[172] The Book of Job gives no clue to the ancestry, offspring. or
homeland of Job, and (as AC remarks, infra, p. 155 ) it is difficult to
recognize the true history of Job from it. Job is only mentioned
elsewhere in the Old Testament as a just man, together with Noe and
Daniel ( Ezekiel 14.14, 16, 20). Rabbinic lore has, however, many
accounts of the circumstances of Job's family; some texts place Job as
a contemporary of Abraham, while others place him earlier or later.
There are several accounts of his visit to Egypt. The list of such
Rabbinic texts is too great to insert here, but a general account of
them will be found in the Jewish Encyclopedia, art. Job, p. 193b. (SB)
[173] It is remarkable that she said on another occasion that the Black
Sea had been before the Flood a high mountain on which evil angels held
sway. This seems to show that the mountain range behind which Job's
first dwelling-place was situated must have been the Caucasus. (CB)
[174] The Hyksos or Shepherd Kings' were foreign rulers in Egypt, c .
1730-1580 B.C., who were finally driven out by a native dynasty. (SB)
[175] The phrase while he was yet speaking' occurs in Job 1.16, 17, 18.
The text certainly suggests a quick succession of calamities, but if
AC's statement of intervals of nine, seven, and twelve years between
the calamities is correct, it is easier to suppose the story to have
been telescoped for the purpose of the drama as we know it, than to
interpret the text (as AC suggests) as meaning while it was still the
talk of the people'. (SB)
[176] In 1835 the writer heard that the founder of the Armenian race
was so named. (CB)
[177] Flavius Josephus (lib. I, Antiquitat. Jud., c. 8) and others
state that Abraham instructed the Egyptians in arithmetic and
astrology. (CB) Abraham in Egypt: Gen. 12.13. That Lot was with him is
shown by 13.1. He pretended that his wife was his sister a second time
(20.2) after which the explanation referred to is given (20.12). That
Abraham taught the Egyptians is an old Jewish tradition, preserved in
Josephus, Ant., I, viii, 2, and there are many Rabbinic stories about
his sojourn in Egypt, especially in the Midrash (e.g. Genesis Rabba,
XLI and XLIV). (SB)
[178] Catherine Emmerich says elsewhere of Hagar: She was of Sarah's
family, and when Sarah herself was barren, she gave Abraham Hagar for
his wife and said she would build from her and have descendants through
her. She looked upon herself as one with all the women of her tribe, as
if it were a female tree with many blossoms. Hagar was a vessel, or
flower of her tribe, and she hoped for a fruit of her tribe from her.
At that time the whole tribe was as one tree and each of its blossoms
formed part of it. (CB) Gen. 16.1 simply states that Hagar was an
Egyptian. (SB)
[179] Gen. 12.20 (literally from the Hebrew): "And Pharaoh gave men
orders concerning him, and sent him away, and his wife, and all that
belonged to him." (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XVII. THE RETURN OF THE HOLY FAMILY FROM EGYPT [180]
At last I saw the Holy Family leaving Egypt. Though Herod had been dead
for some time, they were not yet able to return, for there was still
danger. Their sojourn in Egypt became increasingly difficult for St.
Joseph. The people there practiced an abominable idolatry, sacrificing
deformed children, and even thinking it an act of special piety to
offer healthy ones to be sacrificed. Besides this, they practiced
obscene rites in secret. Even the Jews in their settlement had become
infected by these horrors. They had a temple which they said was like
Solomon's temple, but this was idle boasting, for it was utterly
different. They had an Ark of the Covenant in imitation of the real
one, but it contained obscene figures, and their ceremonies were
abominable. They no longer sang the psalms. Joseph, on the other hand,
had arranged everything admirably in the school at Matarea. He had been
joined there by the heathen priest who had taken the Holy Family's part
when the idols collapsed in the little town near Heliopolis. Others had
accompanied him and had attached themselves to the Jewish community.
I saw St. Joseph busy at his carpentry on the eve of the Sabbath. He
was in great distress because he was not given the payment due to him,
and he had nothing to take home, where money was much needed. In his
trouble he knelt down under the open sky in a corner and prayed to God
to help him in his need. The next night I saw that an angel came to him
in a dream, saying that those who had sought the life of the child were
dead, and that he was to rise up and make ready to journey home from
Egypt by the high road; he was to have no fear, for the angel would
accompany him. I saw St. Joseph communicating to the Blessed Virgin and
to the Child Jesus this command that he had received from God, and I
saw them preparing as promptly and obediently for their journey home as
they had done when warned to flee into Egypt.
When their decision became known next morning, many people came to them
in great distress to say farewell, bringing with them all kinds of
presents in little vessels of bark. They were mostly Jews, but some
were converted heathen and all were truly grieved. (The Jews in this
country were so sunk in idolatry as hardly to be recognized. There were
some people here who were glad at the departure of the Holy Family,
looking on them as sorcerers who owed their power to the mightiest
among the evil spirits.) Amongst the good people who brought presents I
saw mothers with their little boys who had been Jesus' playfellows.
Among these I particularly noticed a prominent woman of that town with
her small son whom she used to call the son of Mary'; for this woman,
who was named Mira, had long hoped for children, and had, by the
prayers of the Blessed Virgin, been granted this son by God. She had
called him Deodatus. [When Catherine Emmerich saw Jesus passing through
Egypt on His way to Jacob's well after the raising of Lazarus, she said
that He took this Deodatus with Him as a disciple.] I saw this woman
giving money to Jesus--yellow, white, and brown pieces, triangular in
shape. Jesus looked at His Mother as He accepted this gift.
As soon as Joseph had packed on the donkey all that they needed, they
started on their journey, accompanied by all their friends. The donkey
was the same one on which Mary had journeyed to Bethlehem. (On their
flight into Egypt they had also had a she-ass with them, but Joseph had
been obliged to sell her when they were in want.) They went between On
and the Jewish settlement, and then turned southwards to the spring
which had gushed forth in answer to Mary's prayer before they came to
On or Heliopolis. All was now green here, and the stream from the
spring encircled a garden, surrounded on all four sides (except for the
entrance) by a hedge of balsam shrubs. This garden was as big as Duke
Croy's riding school at Duelmen, and in it were young fruit trees, date
palms, and sycamores. The balsam shrubs were already as big as
good-sized vines. Joseph had made little vessels of bark, very smooth
and delicate except for the places where they were smeared with pitch.
While they were resting he often made vessels like these for various
uses. He broke off the trefoil-shaped leaves from the reddish tendrils
of the balsam, and hung his little bark bottles on the shrub to catch
the falling drops of balsam for them to take with them on their
journey. Their companions now took a tender farewell of them, after
which the Holy Family remained some hours here. The Blessed Virgin
washed and dried some things, and after refreshing themselves with
water and filling their water-skin, they started on their journey along
the highway. I saw many pictures of them on this journey home, always
free from danger. The Child Jesus, Mary, and Joseph had on their heads,
to protect them from the sun, a round piece of thin bark tied under
their chins with a cloth. Jesus had His brown dress on, and wore shoes
of bark which Joseph had made for Him. They were arranged so as to
cover half His feet. Mary wore only soles. I saw that she was often
worried because the Child Jesus found it so difficult to walk in the
hot sand. I often saw her stopping to shake the sand out of His shoes.
He often had to ride on the donkey so as to rest. I saw them go through
several towns and pass by others. Their names have escaped me, though I
still remember the name Rameses. They crossed some water which they had
also crossed on their journey into Egypt. It inns from the Red Sea to
the Nile.
Joseph did not really want to go back to Nazareth, but wished to settle
in his ancestral home of Bethlehem. He was, however, still irresolute,
since on arriving in the Promised Land he heard that Judea was governed
by Archelaus, who like Herod was very cruel. I saw that the Holy Family
stayed about three months in Gaza, where there were many heathen. Here
an angel again appeared to Joseph in a dream and commanded him to go to
Nazareth, which he did at once. [181] Anna was still alive. She and a
few relations knew where the Holy Family had been living. The return
from Egypt happened in September. Jesus was nearly eight years old.
__________________________________________________________________
[180] Matt. 2.19-23.
[181] Joseph's obedience to the angel in the choice of Nazareth: Matt.
2.22. (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XVIII. THE DEATH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY AT EPHESUS
The following communications, made in different years, generally in the
middle of August before the Feast of the Assumption, are here arranged
in chronological order.
1. REGARDING MARY'S AGE.
[On the morning of August 13 ^th, 1822, Catherine Emmerich said: Last
night I had a great vision of the death of the Blessed Virgin, but have
completely forgotten it all.' On being asked, in the middle of a
conversation on everyday matters, how old the Blessed Virgin was when
she died, Catherine Emmerich suddenly looked away and said: She reached
the age of sixty-four years all but three and twenty days: I have just
seen the figure X six times, then I, then V; is not that sixty-four?'
(It is remarkable that Catherine Emmerich was not shown numbers with
our ordinary Arabic figures, with which she was familiar, but never saw
anything but Roman figures in her visions).]
After Christ's Ascension Mary lived for three years on Mount Sion, for
three years in Bethany, and for nine years in Ephesus, whither St. John
took her soon after the Jews had set Lazarus and his sisters adrift
upon the sea. [182]
Mary did not live in Ephesus itself, but in the country near it where
several women who were her close friends had settled. [183] Mary's
dwelling was on a hill to the left of the road from Jerusalem some
three and a half hours from Ephesus. [184] This hill slopes steeply
towards Ephesus; the city as one approaches it from the south-east
seems to lie on rising ground immediately before one, but seems to
change its place as one draws nearer. Great avenues lead up to the
city, and the ground under the trees is covered with yellow fruit.
Narrow paths lead southwards to a hill near the top of which is an
uneven plateau, some half-hour's journey in circumference, overgrown,
like the hill itself, with wild trees and bushes. It was on this
plateau that the Jewish settlers had made their home. It is a very
lonely place, but has many fertile and pleasant slopes as well as
rock-caves, clean and dry and surrounded by patches of sand. It is wild
but not desolate, and scattered about it are a number of trees,
pyramid-shaped, with big shady branches below and smooth trunks.
John had had a house built for the Blessed Virgin before he brought her
here. Several Christian families and holy women had already settled
here, some in caves in the earth or in the rocks, fitted out with light
woodwork to make dwellings, and some in fragile huts or tents. They had
come here to escape violent persecution. Their dwellings were like
hermits' cells, for they used as their refuges what nature offered
them. As a rule, they lived at a quarter of an hour's distance from
each other. The whole settlement was like a scattered village. Mary's
house was the only one built of stone. A little way behind it was the
summit of the rocky hill from which one could see over the trees and
hills to Ephesus and the sea with its many islands. The place is nearer
the sea than Ephesus, which must be several hours' journey distant from
the coast. The district is lonely and unfrequented. Near here is a
castle inhabited by a king who seems to have been deposed. John visited
him often and ended by converting him. This place later became a
bishop's see. Between the Blessed Virgin's dwelling and Ephesus runs a
little stream which winds about in a very singular way.
2. MARY'S HOUSE IN EPHESUS.
Mary's house was built of rectangular stones, rounded or pointed at the
back. The windows were high up near the flat roof. The house was
divided into two compartments by the hearth in the center of it. The
fireplace was on the floor opposite the door; it was sunk into the
ground beside a wall which rose in steps on each side of it up to the
ceiling. In the center of this wall a deep channel, like the half of a
chimney, carried the smoke up to escape by an opening in the roof. I
saw a sloping copper funnel projecting above the roof over this
opening.
The front part of the house was divided from the room behind the
fireplace by light movable wicker screens on each side of the hearth.
In this front part, the walls of which were rather rough and also
blackened by smoke, I saw little cells on both sides, shut in by wicker
screens fastened together. If this part of the house was needed as one
large room, these screens, which did not nearly reach to the ceiling,
were taken apart and put aside. These cells were used as bedrooms for
Mary's maidservant and for other women who came to visit her.
To the right and left of the hearth, doors led into the back part of
the house, which was darker than the front part and ended in a
semicircle or angle. It was neatly and pleasantly arranged; the walls
were covered with wickerwork, and the ceiling was vaulted. Its beams
were decorated with a mixture of paneling and wickerwork, and
ornamented with a pattern of leaves. It was all simple and dignified.
The farthest corner or apse of this room was divided off by a curtain
and formed Mary.s oratory. In the center of the wall was a niche in
which had been placed a receptacle like a tabernacle, which could be
opened and shut by pulling at a string to turn its door. In it stood a
cross about the length of a man.s arm in which were inserted two arms
rising outwards and upwards, in the form of the letter Y, the shape in
which I have always seen Christ.s Cross. It had no particular
ornamentation, and was more roughly carved than the crosses which come
from the Holy Land nowadays. I think that John and Mary must have made
it themselves. It was made of different kinds of wood. It was told me
that the pale stem of the cross was cypress, the brown arm cedar, and
the other arm of yellow palm-wood, while the piece added at the top,
with the title, was of smooth yellow olive-wood. This cross was set in
a little mound of earth or stone, like Christ.s Cross on Mount Calvary.
At its foot there lay a piece of parchment with something written on
it; Christ.s words, I think. On the cross itself the Figure of Our Lord
was roughly outlined, the lines of the carving being rubbed with darker
color so as to show the Figure plainly. Mary.s meditation on the
different kinds of wood forming the cross were communicated to me, but
alas I have forgotten this beautiful lesson. Nor can I for the moment
be sure whether Christ.s Cross itself was made of these different kinds
of wood, or whether Mary had made this cross in this way only for
devotional reasons. It stood between two small vases filled with fresh
flowers.
I also saw a cloth lying beside the cross, and had the impression that
it was the one with which the Blessed Virgin had wiped the blood from
all the wounds in Our Lord.s holy body after it was taken down from the
cross. The reason why I had this impression was that, at the sight of
the cloth, I was shown that manifestation of the Blessed Virgin.s
motherly love. At the same time I had the feeling that it was the cloth
which priests use at Mass, after drinking the Precious Blood, to
cleanse the chalice; Mary, in wiping the
Lord.s wounds, seemed to me to be acting in the same way, and as she
did it she held the cloth just as the priest does. Such was the
impression I had at the sight of the cloth beside the cross.
To the right of this oratory, against a niche in the wall, was the
sleeping place or cell of the Blessed Virgin. Opposite it, to the left
of the oratory, was a cell where her clothes and other belongings were
kept. Between these two cells a curtain was hung dividing off the
oratory. It was Mary.s custom to sit in front of this curtain when she
was working or reading. The sleeping place of the Blessed Virgin was
backed by a wall hung with a woven carpet; the side-walls were light
screens of bark woven in different-colored woods to make a pattern. The
front wall was hung with a carpet, and had a door with two panels,
opening inwards. The ceiling of this cell was also of wickerwork rising
into a vault from the center of which was suspended a lamp with several
arms. Mary.s couch, which was placed against the wall, was a box one
and a half feet high and of the breadth and length of a narrow plank. A
covering was stretched on it and fastened to a knob at each of the four
corners. The sides of this box were covered with carpets reaching down
to the floor and were decorated with tassels and fringes. A round
cushion served as pillow, and there was a covering of brownish material
with a check pattern. The little house stood near a wood among
pyramid-shaped trees with smooth trunks. It was very quiet and
solitary. The dwellings of the other families were all scattered about
at some distance. The whole settlement was like a village of peasants.
3. MARY.S MAIDSERVANT AND JOHN THE APOSTLE.
The Blessed Virgin lived here alone, with a younger woman, her
maidservant, who fetched what little food they needed. They lived very
quietly and in profound peace. There was no man in the house, but
sometimes they were visited by an Apostle or disciple on his travels.
There was one man whom I saw more often than others going in and out of
the house; I always took him to be John, but neither here nor in
Jerusalem did he remain permanently near the Blessed Virgin. He came
and went in the course of his travels. He did not wear
the same dress as in Jesus. time. His garment was very long and hung in
folds, and was of a thin grayish-white material. He was very slim and
active, his face was long, narrow, and delicate, and on his bare head
his long fair hair was parted and brushed back behind his ears. In
contrast with the other Apostles, this gave him a womanish, almost
girlish appearance. Last time he was here I saw Mary becoming ever
quieter and more meditative: she took hardly any nourishment. It was as
if she were only here in appearance, as if her spirit had already
passed beyond and her whole being was far away. In the last weeks
before she died I sometimes saw her, weak and aged, being led about the
house by her maidservant.
Once I saw John come into the house, looking much older too, and very
thin and haggard. As he came in he girt up his long white ample garment
in his girdle, then took off this girdle and put on another one,
inscribed with letters, which he drew out from under his robe. He put a
sort of maniple on his arm and a stole round his neck. The Blessed
Virgin came in from her bedchamber completely enveloped in a white
robe, and leaning on her maidservant.s arm. Her face was white as snow
and as though transparent. She seemed to be swaying with intense
longing. Since Jesus. Ascension her whole being seemed to be filled
with an ever-increasing yearning which gradually consumed her. John and
she went together to the oratory. The Blessed Virgin pulled at the
ribbon or strap which turned the tabernacle in the wall to show the
cross in it. After they had knelt for a long time in prayer before it,
John rose and drew from his breast a metal box. Opening it at one side,
he drew from it a wrapping of material of fine wool, and out of this
took a little folded cloth of white material. From this he took out the
Blessed Sacrament in the form of a small square white particle. After
speaking a few solemn words, he gave the Sacrament to the Blessed
Virgin. He did not give her a chalice.
Behind the house, at a little distance up the hill, the Blessed Virgin
had made a kind of Way of the Cross. When she was living in Jerusalem,
she had never failed, ever since Our Lord.s
death, to follow His path to Calvary with tears of compassion. She had
paced out and measured all the distances between the Stations of that
Via Crucis, and her love for her Son made her unable to live without
this constant contemplation of His sufferings. Soon after her arrival
at her new home I saw her every day climbing part of the way up the
hill behind her house to carry out this devotion. At first she went by
herself, measuring the number of steps, so often counted by her, which
separated the places of Our Lord's different sufferings. At each of
these places she put up a stone, or, if there was already a tree there,
she made a mark upon it. The way led into a wood, and upon a hill in
this wood she had marked the place of Calvary, and the grave of Christ
in a little cave in another hill. After she had marked this Way of the
Cross with twelve Stations, she went there with her maidservant in
quiet meditation: at each Station they sat down and renewed the mystery
of its significance in their hearts, praising the Lord for His love
with tears of compassion. Afterwards she arranged the Stations better,
and I saw her inscribing on the stones the meaning of each Station, the
number of paces and so forth. I saw, too, that she cleaned out the cave
of the Holy Sepulcher and made it a place for prayer. At that time I
saw no picture and no fixed cross to designate the Stations, nothing
but plain memorial stones with inscriptions, but afterwards, as the
result of constant visits and attention, I saw the place becoming
increasingly beautiful and easy of approach. After the Blessed Virgin's
death I saw this Way of the Cross being visited by Christians, who
threw themselves down and kissed the ground.
4. MARY TRAVELS FROM EPHESUS TO JERUSALEM.
After three years' sojourn here Mary had a great longing to see
Jerusalem again, and was taken there by John and Peter. Several of the
Apostles were, I believe, assembled there: I saw Thomas among them and
I think a Council was held at which Mary assisted them with her advice.
On their arrival at Jerusalem in the dusk of the evening, before they
went into the city, I saw them visiting the Mount of Olives, Calvary,
the Holy Sepulcher, and all the holy places outside Jerusalem. The
Mother of God was so sorrowful and so moved by compassion that she
could hardly hold herself upright, and Peter and John had to support
her as they led her away.
She came to Jerusalem from Ephesus once again, [185] eighteen months
before her death, and I saw her again visiting the Holy Places with the
Apostles at night, wrapped in a veil. She was inexpressibly sorrowful,
constantly sighing, O my Son, my Son'. When she came to that door
behind the palace where she had met Jesus sinking under the weight of
the Cross, she too sank to the ground in a swoon, overcome by agonizing
memories, and her companions thought she was dying. They brought her to
Sion, to the Cenacle, where she was living in one of the outer
buildings. Here for several days she was so weak and ill and so often
suffered from fainting attacks that her companions again and again
thought her end was near and made preparations for her burial. She
herself chose a cave in the Mount of Olives, and the Apostles caused a
beautiful sepulcher to be prepared here by the hands of a Christian
stonemason. [At another time Catherine Emmerich said that St. Andrew
had also helped in this work.] During this time it was announced more
than once that she was dead, and the rumor of her death and burial was
spread abroad in Jerusalem and in other places as well. By the time,
however, that the sepulcher was ready, [186] she had recovered and was
strong enough to journey back to her home in Ephesus, where she did in
fact die eighteen months later. The sepulcher prepared for her on the
Mount of Olives was always held in honor, and later a church was built
over it, and John Damascene (so I heard in the spirit, but who and what
was he?) [187] wrote from hearsay that she had died and been buried in
Jerusalem. I expect that the news of her death, burial-place, and
assumption into heaven were permitted by God to be indefinite and only
a matter of tradition in order that Christianity in its early days
should not be in danger of heathen influences then so powerful. The
Blessed Virgin might easily have been adored as a goddess.
5. RELATIVES AND FRIENDS OF THE HOLY FAMILY WHO ALSO LIVE IN EPHESUS.
Amongst the holy women living in the Christian settlement near Ephesus
and visiting the Blessed Virgin in her house was the daughter of a
sister of Anna, the prophetess of the Temple. I saw her once traveling
to Nazareth with Seraphia (Veronica) before Jesus' baptism. This woman
was related to the Holy Family through Anna, for Anna was related to
St. Anne and still more closely to Elizabeth, St. Anne's niece. Another
of the women living in Mary's neighborhood, whom I had also seen on her
way to Nazareth before Jesus' baptism, was a niece of Elizabeth's
called Mara. She was related to the Holy Family in the following way:
St. Anne's mother Ismeria had a sister called Emerentia, both living in
the pasture-lands of Mara between Mount Horeb and the Red Sea. She was
told by the head of the Essenes on Mount Horeb that among her
descendants would be friends of the Messiah. She married Aphras, of the
family of the priests who had carried the Ark of the Covenant.
Emerentia had three daughters: Elizabeth, the mother of the Baptist,
Enue (who was present as a widow at the birth of the Blessed Virgin in
St. Anne's house), and Rhoda, whose daughter Mara was, as I have said,
now at Ephesus. Rhoda had married far away from the home of her family:
she lived first in the region of Shechem, then in Nazareth and at
Casaloth on Mount Thabor. Besides Mara she had two other daughters, and
the sons of one of these became disciples. One of Rhoda's two sons was
the first husband of Maroni, who, when he died, married as a childless
widow Eliud, a nephew of St. Anne, and went to live at Naim. Maroni had
by this Eliud a son whom Our Lord raised from the dead in Naim after
his mother had become a widow for the second time. He was the young man
of Naim who became a disciple and received the name of Martial in
baptism. Rhoda's daughter Mara, who was present at Mary's death at
Ephesus, was married and lived near Bethlehem. At the time of Christ's
birth, when St. Anne absented herself from Bethlehem on one occasion,
it was to Mara that she went. Mara was not well off, for Rhoda had
(like the rest of her family) left her children only a third of her
property, the other two-thirds going to the Temple and the poor. I
think that Nathanael, the bridegroom of Cana, was a son of this Mara,
and received the name of Amator in baptism. She had other sons who all
became disciples.
6. THE HOLY VIRGIN MAKES THE WAY OF THE CROSS FOR THE LAST TIME.
[August 7, 1821:] Last night and the night before I had much to do with
the Mother of God at Ephesus. I followed her Way of the Cross with her
and some five other holy women. The niece of Anna the prophetess was
there, and also Elizabeth's niece, the widow Mara. The Blessed Virgin
went in front of them all. I saw that she was weak; her face was quite
white and as though transparent. Her appearance was indescribably
moving. It seemed to me as if I were following her here for the last
time. While she was making the Stations, John, Peter, and Thaddeus were
I think, already in her house. I saw the Blessed Virgin as very full of
years, but no sign of old age appeared in her except a consuming
yearning by which she was as it were transfigured. There was an
indescribable solemnity about her. I never saw her laugh, though she
had a beautiful smile. As she grew older, her face became ever paler
and more transparent. She was very thin, but I saw no wrinkles; there
was no sign whatever in her of any withering or decay. She was living
in the spirit, as it were.
The reason why I saw the Blessed Virgin with such particular clearness
in this vision may be my possession of a little relic of a garment
which she wore on this occasion. I will endeavor to describe the
garment as clearly as I can. [Please refer to Figure 23.] It was an
over-garment. It completely covered only the back, where it fell to the
feet in a few long folds. At the neck it was crossed over the breast
and shoulders, and was held on one shoulder by a button, making a kind
of scarf. It was fastened round the waist by a girdle and fell from
under her arms to the feet on each side of the brown undergarment.
Below the girdle it was folded back to show the lining, which had red
and yellow stripes running down and across it. The little piece in my
possession comes from the right-hand side of this fold, but not from
the lining. It was a festival garment, worn in this way according to
old Jewish custom. The Blessed Virgin's mother wore one, too. This
garment covered only the back of the brown undergarment, leaving the
bodice and whole front of the latter visible. The sleeves, which were
full, showed only from the elbows downwards. The Blessed Virgin's hair
was hidden in the yellowish cap which she wore; this was stretched
rather tightly across her forehead and drawn together in folds on the
back of her head. Over it she wore a soft black veil which hung down to
her waist. I saw her wearing this dress at the wedding of Cana. In the
third year of Jesus' ministry, when Our Lord was healing the sick and
teaching beyond the Jordan at Bethabara (also called Bethania), I saw
the Blessed Virgin wearing this dress in Jerusalem, where she was
living in a beautiful house near the house of Nicodemus, who, I think,
owned that house also. Again at Our Lord's crucifixion I saw her
wearing this garment, completely hidden under her praying and mourning
cloak. No doubt she wore this ceremonial dress here at the Way of the
Cross in Ephesus in memory of having worn it during Jesus' sufferings
on His way to Calvary.
[The morning of August 9 ^th, 1821:] I came into Mary's house, some
three hours' journey from Ephesus. I saw her lying on a low, very
narrow couch in her little sleeping-alcove all hung with white, in the
room behind and to the right of the hearth-place. Her head rested on a
round cushion. She was very weak and pale, and seemed as though
completely consumed with yearning. Her head and whole figure were
wrapped in a long cloth; she was covered by a brown woolen blanket. I
saw several women (five, I think) going into her room one after the
other, and coming out again as though they were saying farewell to her.
As they came out they made affecting gestures of prayer or grief. I
again noticed amongst them Anna the niece of the prophetess, and Mara,
Elizabeth's niece, whom I had seen at the Stations of the Cross. I now
saw six of the Apostles already gathered here--Peter, Andrew, John,
Thaddeus, Bartholomew, and Matthias--and also one of the seven deacons,
Nicanor, who was always so helpful and anxious to be of service. I saw
the Apostles standing in prayer together on the right-hand side of the
front part of the house, where they had arranged an oratory.
Figure 23. Mary in her ceremonial dress.
7. TWO APOSTLES HAVE NOT YET ARRIVED.
[August 10 ^th, 1821:] The time of the year when the Church celebrates
the death of the Blessed Virgin is no doubt the correct one, only it
does not fall every year on the same day.
Today I saw two more Apostles coming in with girt-up garments like
travelers. [188] These were James the Less and Matthew, who is his
step-brother, since Alpheus married when a widower Mary the daughter of
Cleophas, having had Matthew by a former wife.
Yesterday evening and this morning I saw the assembled Apostles holding
a service in the front part of the house. For this purpose they had
taken away or arranged differently the movable wickerwork screens which
divided it into sleeping compartments. The altar was a table covered
with a red cloth with a white one over it. It was brought from its
place to the right of the hearth (which was in daily use) to be set up
against the wall and used at the service, after which it was put back
again. In front of the altar was a stand covered with a cloth over
which hung a scroll. Lamps were burning above the altar. On the altar
had been placed a vessel in the shape of a cross made of a substance
lustrous with mother-of-pearl. It was barely nine inches in length and
breadth and contained five boxes closed by silver lids. In the center
one was the Blessed Sacrament, and in the others chrism, oil, salt,
other holy things, and some shreds of what was perhaps cotton.
Everything was tightly closed and packed together to prevent any
leakage. It was the Apostles' custom to carry this cross on their
travels hanging on their breasts under their garments. They were then
greater than the high priest when he carried on his breast the holy
treasure of the Old Covenant. I cannot clearly recollect whether there
were holy bones in one of the boxes or elsewhere. But I do know that in
the sacrifice of the New Covenant they always had near the altar the
bones of prophets and later of martyrs, just as the Patriarchs at their
sacrifices always placed on the altar the bones of Adam or of other
progenitors on whom the Promise rested. At the Last Supper Christ had
taught the Apostles to do the same.
Peter stood in priestly vestments before the altar, with the others
behind him as if in choir. The women stood in the background.
8. ARRIVAL OF SIMON THE APOSTLE.
[August 11 ^th, 1821:] Today I saw a ninth Apostle, Simon, arrive.
James the Greater, Philip and Thomas were the only ones missing. I also
saw that several disciples had arrived, among whom I remember John Mark
and the aged Simeon's son or grandson, who had killed Jesus' last
Easter lamb and had the duty of supervising the sacrificial animals in
the Temple. There were now some ten men assembled there. There was
again a service at the altar, and I saw some of the new arrivals with
their garments girt up high, so that I thought they must be intending
to leave immediately afterwards. In front of the Blessed Virgin's bed
stood a small, low, three-cornered stool, like the one on which the
kings had laid their presents before her in the Cave of the Nativity.
On it was a little bowl with a small brown transparent spoon. Today I
saw nobody in the Blessed Virgin's room except one woman.
I saw Peter again bringing her the Blessed Sacrament after the service;
he brought it to her in the cross-shaped vessel. The Apostles stood in
two rows reaching from the altar to her couch, and bowed low as Peter
passed between them bearing the Blessed Sacrament. The screens round
the Blessed Virgin's couch were pushed back on all sides.
After witnessing all this in Ephesus, I had a longing to see what was
going on in Jerusalem at this time, but shrank from the long journey
there from Ephesus. Whereupon the holy virgin and martyr Susanna [189]
came to me and encouraged me, saying that she would be my companion on
the journey. (Today is her feast day, and I have a relic of her, and
she was with me the whole night.) So I went with her over sea and land,
and we soon reached Jerusalem. She was, however, quite different from
me, as light as air, and when I tried to take hold of her I could not
do it. As soon as I came to a definite place, as for instance Jerusalem
yesterday, she disappeared; but in all my passages from one vision to
another, she was there to accompany and encourage me.
9. JERUSALEM AT THE TIME OF THE DEATH OF THE HOLY VIRGIN.
I came to the Mount of Olives, and found it all changed and laid waste
since I had seen it before, though I was able to recognize each place I
had known. The house near the garden of Gethsemani where the disciples
had stayed had been pulled down, and a number of trenches and walls had
been made there to prevent access to it. After this I betook myself to
Our Lord's Sepulcher. It had been walled up and buried under rubbish,
and above, on the top of the rock, a building like a little temple was
being put up. So far only the bare walls had been built. As I looked
about me, distressed at all the devastation, my heavenly Bridegroom
appeared to me in the form in which He had once appeared to Mary
Magdalen in this place, and comforted me.
I found Mount Calvary built up and desolate. The little hill on which
the Cross had stood had been leveled and surrounded by banks and
ditches to prevent access to it. I did, however, make my way there to
pray, and again Our Lord came to strengthen and comfort me. When Our
Lord appeared to me I no longer saw St. Susanna beside me.
Afterwards I entered into a vision of Christ's miracles and acts of
healing near Jerusalem, and saw many of these healings again. This made
me think of the power of healing in the name of Jesus which is
specially bestowed upon priests, and how in our days this grace has
been particularly manifested in the person of Prince Hohenlohe. [190] I
saw him healing many kinds of illnesses by his prayers; sometimes he
cured people who had long suffered from ulcers hidden under their dirty
rags. I am not sure whether these were really ulcers or only symbols of
old burdens on their consciences. At the same time I found myself in
the presence of other priests who possessed this power of healing in
the same degree, but failed to exercise it owing to distractions,
preoccupations with other things, fear of other people, or lack of
perseverance. One of these I saw particularly clearly; to be sure, he
helped many people whose hearts were, I saw, being gnawed by ugly
creatures (these, no doubt, signified sins), but others, who lay
stricken with bodily illness and whom he could certainly have helped,
he neglected to assist owing to distractions, which caused disturbances
and obstacles within him.
10. THE APOSTLES HOLD A SERVICE.
[August 12 ^th, 1821:] There are now not more than twelve men gathered
together in Mary's house. Today I saw a service being held in her
sleeping-alcove; Mass was said there. Her little room was open on all
sides. A woman was kneeling beside Mary's couch and every now and then
held her upright. I see this being done throughout the day, and I see
the women giving the Blessed Virgin a spoonful of liquid from the bowl.
Mary had across on her couch, half an arm's length long and shaped like
the letter Y, as I always see the Holy Cross. The upright piece is
somewhat broader than the arms. It seems to be made of different woods,
and the figure of Christ is white. The Blessed Virgin received the
Blessed Sacrament. After Christ's Ascension she lived fourteen years
and two months.
[As Catherine Emmerich fell asleep that evening, she sang hymns to the
Mother of God very softly and peacefully in a most moving manner. When
she woke up again, the writer asked her what she was singing, and she
answered, still heavy with sleep: I was following in the procession
with that woman there: now she has gone!' Next day she again spoke of
this singing. In the evening I was following two of Mary's friends on
the Way of the Cross behind her house. Every day they take it in turns
to go there, morning and evening, and I creep up quietly to join in
behind them. Yesterday I could not help starting to sing and then
everything was gone.']
Mary's Way of the Cross has twelve Stations. She paced out all the
measurements, and John had the memorial stones set up for her. At first
they were just rough stones to mark the places, afterwards everything
was made more elaborate. There were now low smooth white stones with
many sides--I think eight--with a little depression in the center of
the surface. Each of these stones rested on a base of the same stone
whose thickness was hidden by the close turf and the beautiful flowers
surrounding them. The stones and their bases were all inscribed with
Hebrew letters. These Stations were all in hollows like little round
basins. They were enclosed, and a path encircled the stones broad
enough for one or two people to approach in order to read the
inscriptions. The spaces round the stones, covered with grass and
beautiful flowers, varied in size. These stones were not always
uncovered; there was a mat or cover fastened at one side which, when
nobody was praying there, was pulled over the stone and held down on
the other side with two pegs. These twelve stones were all alike, all
engraved with Hebrew inscriptions, but their positions were different.
The Station of the Mount of Olives was in a little valley near a cave,
in which several people could kneel at prayer. The Station of Mount
Calvary was the only one not in a hollow, but on a hill. To reach the
Station of the Holy Sepulcher one went over this hill and came to the
stone in a hollow. Still lower down at the foot of the hill, in a cave,
was the Sepulcher in which the Blessed Virgin was buried. I believe
that this grave must still exist under the earth and will one day come
to light.
I saw that the Apostles, holy women, and other Christians, when they
approached these Stations to pray before them, kneeling or lying on
their faces, brought out from under their robes a Y-shaped cross about
a foot long, which they set up in the hollow on the various stones by
means of a prop at its back.
11. JAMES THE GREATER AND PHILIP ARRIVE.
[August 13 ^th, 1821:] I saw the service being celebrated today as
before. I saw the Blessed Virgin being lifted up several times in the
day to be given nourishment from the spoon. In the evening about seven
o'clock she said in her sleep: Now James the Greater has come from
Spain by Rome with three companions, Timon, Eremenzear, and still
another.' Later Philip came with a companion from Egypt. I saw the
Apostles and disciples arrive mostly in a very tired condition. [191]
They had long staffs with crooks and knobs of different shapes in their
hands which showed their rank. They wore long white woolen cloaks which
they could draw over their heads as hoods. Underneath they wore long
white priests' robes of wool; these were open from top to bottom,
closed by little knob-like buttons and slit straps of leather. I always
saw them like this, but forgot to say so. When they were on their
travels they wore their garments girt up high round their waists. Some
of them had a pouch hanging from their girdles.
The newcomers tenderly embraced those who were already there, and I saw
many of them weeping for joy and for sorrow, too--happy to see each
other again and grieved that the occasion for their meeting was so sad.
They laid aside their staffs, cloaks, girdles, and pouches, letting
their long white undergarments fall to their feet. They put on broad
girdles which they carried with them, engraved with letters. After
their feet had been washed, they approached Mary's couch and greeted
her with reverence. She could only say a few words to them. I saw that
they took no nourishment except little loaves; they drank from the
little flasks hanging from their girdles.
12. HOW THE APOSTLES WERE CALLED TO MARY'S DEATHBED.
A short time before the Blessed Virgin's death, as she felt the
approach of her reunion with her God, her Son, and her Redeemer, she
prayed that there might be fulfilled what Jesus had promised to her in
the house of Lazarus at Bethany on the day before His Ascension. It was
shown to me in the spirit how at that time, when she begged Him that
she might not live for long in this vale of tears after He had
ascended, Jesus told her in general what spiritual works she was to
accomplish before her end on earth. He told her, too, that in answer to
her prayers the Apostles and several disciples would be present at her
death, and what she was to say to them and how she was to bless them. I
saw, too, how He told the inconsolable Mary Magdalen to hide herself in
the desert, and her sister Martha to found a community of women; He
Himself would always be with them.
After the Blessed Virgin had prayed that the Apostles should come to
her, I saw the call going forth to them in many different parts of the
world. At this moment I can remember what follows.
In many of the places where they had taught, the Apostles had already
built little churches. Some of them had not yet been built in stone,
but were made of plaited reeds plastered with clay; yet all those I saw
had at the back the semicircular or three-sided apse, like Mary's house
at Ephesus. They had altars in them and offered the holy sacrifice of
the Mass there.
I saw all, the farthest as well as the nearest, being summoned by
visions to come to the Blessed Virgin. The indescribably long journeys
made by the Apostles were not accomplished without miraculous
assistance from the Lord. I think that they often traveled in a
supernatural manner without knowing it, for I often saw them passing
through crowds of men apparently without anyone seeing them.
I saw that the miracles which the Apostles worked amongst various
heathen and savage peoples were quite different from their miracles
described in Holy Writ. Everywhere they worked miracles according to
the needs of the people. I saw that they all took with them on their
travels the bones of the Prophets or of martyrs done to death in the
first persecutions, and kept them at hand when praying and offering the
Holy Sacrifice.
When the Lord's summons to Ephesus came to the Apostles, Peter, and I
think also Matthias, were in the region of Antioch. Andrew, who was on
his way from Jerusalem, where he had suffered persecution, was not far
from him. In the night I saw Peter and Andrew asleep on their journey
in different places but not very far apart from each other. Neither of
them were in a town, but were taking their rest in public shelters such
as are found by the roadside in these hot countries. Peter was lying
against a wall. I saw a shining youth approach and wake him by taking
him by the hand and telling him to rise and hurry to Mary, and that he
would meet Andrew on the way. I saw that Peter, who was already stiff
from age and his exertions, sat up and rested his hands on his knees as
he listened to the angel. Hardly had the vision vanished when he got
up, wrapped himself in his cloak, fastened his girdle, grasped his
staff, and set forth. He was soon met by Andrew, who had been summoned
by the same vision; later they met with Thaddeus, to whom the same
message had been given. Thus all three came to Mary's house, where they
met John.
James the Greater, who had a narrow pale face and black hair, came from
Spain to Jerusalem with several disciples, and stayed some time in
Sarona near Joppa. It was here that the summons to Ephesus reached him.
After Mary's death he went with some six others back to Jerusalem and
suffered a martyr's death. [192] The man who denounced him was
converted, was baptized by him, and beheaded with him.
Jude Thaddeus and Simon were in Persia when the summons reached them.
Thomas was of low stature and had red-brown hair. He was the farthest
off, and did not arrive until after Mary's death. [193] I saw the
summoning angel come to him. He was a very long way off. He was not in
any town, but in a reed-hut, where he was praying, when the angel told
him to go to Ephesus. I saw him alone in a little boat with a very
simpleminded servant crossing a wide expanse of water--then journeying
across country without, I think, touching at any town. He was
accompanied by a disciple. He was in India when he received the
warning, but before that he had decided to go farther north to Tartary,
and could not make up his mind to abandon this plan. (He always tried
to do too much and so often arrived too late.) So he went still farther
north, right across China, to where Russia is now, where he received a
second summons which sent him hurrying to Ephesus. The servant whom he
had with him was a Tartar whom he had baptized. This man played a part
in later events, but I forget what it was. Thomas did not return to
Tartary after Mary's death. He was killed in India by being pierced
with a lance. I saw that he set up a stone in that country on which he
knelt and prayed, and that the marks of his knees were imprinted upon
the stone. He foretold that when the sea should reach this stone,
another would come to that country preaching Jesus Christ.
John had been in Jericho a short time before; he often traveled to the
Promised Land. He usually stayed in Ephesus and its neighborhood, and
it was here that the summons reached him.
Bartholomew was in Asia, east of the Red Sea. He was handsome and very
gifted. His complexion was pale, and he had a high forehead, large
eyes, and black curly hair. He had a short black curly beard, divided
in the middle. He had just converted a king and his family. I saw it
all and will recount it in due course. When he returned there he was
murdered by the king's brother.
I forget where James the Less was when the summons reached him. He was
very handsome and had a great resemblance to Our Lord, whence he was
called by all his brethren the brother of the Lord.
About Matthew I again saw today that he was the son of Alpheus by a
former marriage, and was thus the stepson of Alpheus' second wife Mary,
the daughter of Cleophas.
I forget about Andrew.
Paul was not summoned. Only those were summoned who were relations or
acquaintances of the Holy Family.
13. THE EFFECT OF RELICS OF THE APOSTLES ON THE VISIONS.
During these visions I had by my side, amongst the many relics I
possess, those of Andrew, Bartholomew, James the Greater, James the
Less, Thaddeus, Simon Zelotes, Thomas, and several disciples and holy
women. All these came up to me in that order more clearly and
distinctly than the others, and then entered into the vision that I
saw. I saw Thomas come up to me like the others, but he did not come
into the vision of Mary's death; he was far away and came too late. I
saw that he was the only one of The Twelve who was missing. I saw him
on his way at a great distance.
I also saw five disciples, and can remember with particular clearness
Simeon Justus and Barnabas (or Barsabas), whose bones were beside me.
[194] Among the three others was one of the shepherd's sons (Eremenzear
), who accompanied Jesus on His long journeys after the raising of
Lazarus. The other two came from Jerusalem. I also saw coming into
Mary's house Mary Heli, the elder sister of the Blessed Virgin, and her
younger stepsister, a daughter of Anna by her second husband. Mary Heli
(who was the wife of Cleophas, the mother of Mary Cleophas, and the
grandmother of the Apostle James the Less, Thaddeus, and Simon) was by
then a very old woman. (She was twenty years older than the Blessed
Virgin.) All these holy women lived near by; they had come here some
time before to escape the persecution in Jerusalem. Some of them lived
in caves in the rocks which had been arranged as dwellings by means of
wickerwork screens.
14. THE DEATH OF THE HOLY VIRGIN.
[On the afternoon of August 14 ^th Catherine Emmerich said to the
writer: Now I will tell of the death of the Blessed Virgin if only I am
not disturbed by visits. Tell my little niece not to interrupt me but
to wait patiently in the other room for a time.' The writer, having
done this and returned, said to her, Now tell', whereupon she answered,
gazing before her with a fixed stare: Where am I, then? Is it morning
or evening?' The writer: You are going to tell of the death of the
Blessed Virgin.' Well, there they are, the Apostles, ask them yourself,
you are much more learned than I am, you can ask them better than I
can. They are following the Way of the Cross and are preparing the
grave of the Mother of God.' When she said this, she was already seeing
what happened after Mary's death. After a pause she continued, marking
on her fingers the figures she mentioned: See this number, a stroke I
and then a V, does not this make four? Then again V and three strokes,
does not that make eight? This is not properly written out; but I see
them as separate figures because I do not understand big sums in Roman
letters. It means that the year 48 after Christ's Birth is the year of
the Blessed Virgin's death. Then I see X and III and then two full
moons as they are shown in the calendar, that means that the Blessed
Virgin died thirteen years and two months after Christ's Ascension into
Heaven. This is not the month in which she died--I think I already saw
this vision several months ago. Ah, her death was full of sorrow and
full of joy.' In this continued state of fervor she then recounted the
following:]
Yesterday at midday I saw that there was already great grief and
mourning in the Blessed Virgin's house. Her maidservant was in the
utmost distress, throwing herself on her knees and praying with
outstretched arms, sometimes in corners of the house and sometimes
outside in front of it. The Blessed Virgin lay still and as though near
death in her little cell. She was completely enveloped in a white
sleeping coverlet, even her arms being wrapped in it. It was like the
one I described when she went to bed in Elizabeth's house at the
Visitation. The veil over her head was arranged in folds across her
forehead; when speaking with men she lowered it over her face. Even her
hands were covered except when she was alone. In the last days of her
life I never saw her take any nourishment except now and then a
spoonful of juice which her maidservant pressed from a bunch of yellow
berries like grapes into a bowl near her couch. Towards evening the
Blessed Virgin realized that her end was approaching and therefore
signified her desire, in accordance with Jesus' will, to bless and say
farewell to the Apostles, disciples and women who were present. Her
sleeping cell was opened on all sides, and she sat upright on her
couch, shining white as if suffused with light. The Blessed Virgin,
after praying, blessed each one by laying her crossed hands on their
foreheads. She then, once more, spoke to them all, doing everything
that Jesus had commanded her at Bethany. When Peter went up to her, I
saw that he had a scroll of writing in his hand. She told John what was
to be done with her body, and bade him divide her clothes between her
maidservant and another poor girl from the neighborhood who sometimes
came to help. The Blessed Virgin in saying this pointed to the cupboard
standing opposite her sleeping cell, and I saw her maidservant go and
open the cupboard and then shut it again. So I saw all the Blessed
Virgin's garments and will describe them later. After the Apostles, the
disciples who were present approached the Blessed Virgin's couch and
received the same blessing. The men then went back into the front part
of the house and prepared for the service, while the women who were
present came up to the Blessed Virgin's couch, knelt down and received
her blessing. I saw that one of them bent right down over Mary and was
embraced by her.
In the meantime the altar was set up and the Apostles vested themselves
for the service in their long white robes and broad girdles with
letters on them. Five of them who assisted in offering the Holy
Sacrifice (just as I had seen done when Peter first officiated in the
new church at the pool of Bethsaida after the Ascension) put on the
big, rich, priestly vestments. Peter, who was the celebrant, wore a
robe which was very long at the back but did not trail on the ground.
[Please refer to Figure 24.] There must have been some sort of
stiffening round its hem, for I see it standing out all round.
They were still engaged in putting on their vestments when James the
Greater arrived with three companions. He came with Timon the deacon
from Spain, and after passing through Rome had met with Eremenzear and
still another. The Apostles already present, who were just going up to
the altar, greeted him with grave solemnity, telling him in few words
to go to the Blessed Virgin. He and his companions, after having had
their feet washed and after arranging their garments, went in their
traveling dress to the Blessed Virgin's room. She gave her blessing
first to James alone, and then to his three companions together, after
which James went to join in the service. The latter had been going on
for some time when Philip arrived from Egypt with a companion. He at
once went to the Mother of Our Lord, and wept bitterly as he received
her blessing.
In the meantime Peter had completed the Holy Sacrifice. He had
performed the act of consecration, had received the Body of the Lord,
and had given Communion to the Apostles and disciples. The Blessed
Virgin could not see the altar from her bed, but during the Holy
Sacrifice she sat upright on her couch in deep devotion. Peter, after
he and the other Apostles had received Communion, brought the Blessed
Virgin the Blessed Sacrament and administered extreme unction to her.
The Apostles accompanied him in a solemn procession. Thaddeus went
first with a smoking censer. Peter bore the Blessed Sacrament in the
cruciform vessel of which I have spoken, and John followed him,
carrying a dish on which rested the Chalice with the Precious blood and
some small boxes. The Chalice was small, white, and thick as though of
cast metal; its stem was so short that it could only be held with two
or three fingers. It had a lid, and was of the same shape as the
Chalice at the Last Supper. A little altar had been set up by the
Apostles in the alcove beside the Blessed Virgin's couch. The
maidservant had brought a table which she covered with red and white
cloths. Lights (I think both tapers and lamps) were burning on it. The
Blessed Virgin lay back on her pillows pale and still. Her gaze was
directed intently upwards; she said no word to anyone and seemed in a
state of perpetual ecstasy. She was radiant with longing; I could feel
this longing, which was bearing her upwards--ah, my heart was longing
to ascend with hers to God!
Figure 24. Peter in rich, priestly vestments.
Peter approached her and gave her extreme unction, much in the way in
which it is administered now. From the boxes which John held he
anointed her with holy oil on her face, hands, and feet, and on her
side, where there was an opening in her dress so that she was in no way
uncovered. While this was being done the Apostles were reciting prayers
as if in choir. Peter then gave her Holy Communion. She raised herself
to receive it, without supporting herself, and then sank back again.
The Apostles prayed for a while, and then, raising herself rather less,
she received the Chalice from John. As she received the Blessed
Sacrament I saw a radiance pass into Mary, who sank back as though in
ecstasy, and spoke no more. The Apostles then returned to the altar in
the front part of the house in a solemn procession with the sacred
vessels and continued the service. St. Philip now also received Holy
Communion. Only a few women remained with the Blessed Virgin.
Afterwards I saw the Apostles and disciples once more standing round
the Blessed Virgin's bed and praying. Mary's face was radiant with
smiles as in her youth. Her eyes were raised towards heaven in holy
joy. Then I saw a wonderfully moving vision. The ceiling of the Blessed
Virgin's room disappeared, the lamp hung in the open air, and I saw
through the sky into the heavenly Jerusalem. Two radiant clouds of
light sank down, out of which appeared the faces of many angels.
Between these clouds a path of light poured down upon Mary, and I saw a
shining mountain leading up from her into the heavenly Jerusalem. She
stretched out her arms towards it in infinite longing, and I saw her
body, all wrapped up, rise so high above her couch that one could see
right under it. I saw her soul leave her body like a little figure of
infinitely pure light, soaring with outstretched arms up the shining
mountain to heaven. The two angel-choirs in the clouds met beneath her
soul and separated it from her holy body, which in the moment of
separation sank back on the couch with arms crossed on the breast.
[195] My gaze followed her soul and saw it enter the heavenly Jerusalem
by that shining path and go up to the throne of the most Holy Trinity.
I saw many souls coming forward to meet her in joy and reverence;
amongst them I recognized many patriarchs, as well as Joachim, Anna,
Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin
soared through them all to the Throne of God and of her Son, whose
wounds shone with a light transcending even the light irradiating His
whole Presence. He received her with His Divine Love, and placed in her
hands a scepter with a gesture towards the earth as though indicating
the power which He gave her. Seeing her thus entered into the glory of
heaven, I forgot the whole scene round her body on the earth. Some of
the Apostles, Peter and John for example, must have seen this too, for
their faces were raised to heaven, while the others knelt, most of them
bowed down low to the earth. Everywhere was light and radiance, as at
Christ's Ascension. To my great joy I saw that Mary's soul, as it
entered heaven, was followed by a great number of souls released from
purgatory; and again today, on the anniversary, I saw many poor souls
entering heaven, amongst them some whom I knew. I was given the
comforting assurance that every year, on the day of the Blessed
Virgin's death, many souls of those who have venerated her receive this
reward.
When I once more looked down to earth, I saw the Blessed Virgin's body
lying on the couch. It was shining; her face was radiant; her eyes were
closed, and her arms, crossed on her breast. The Apostles, disciples,
and women knelt round it praying. As I saw all this there was a
beautiful ringing in the air and a movement throughout the whole of
nature like the one I had perceived on Christmas night. The Blessed
Virgin died after the ninth hour, at the same time as Our Lord.
The women now laid a covering over the holy body, and the Apostles and
disciples betook themselves to the front part of the house. The fire on
the hearth was covered, and all the household utensils put aside and
covered up. The women wrapped and veiled themselves and, sitting on the
ground in the room in front of the house, they began to lament for the
dead, kneeling and sitting in turns. The men muffled their heads in the
piece of stuff which they wore round their necks and held a mourning
service. There were always two praying at the head and foot of the holy
body. Matthew and Andrew followed the Blessed Virgin's Way of the Cross
till the last Station, the cave which represented Christ's sepulcher.
They had tools with them with which to enlarge the tomb, for it was
here that the Blessed Virgin's body was to rest. The cave was not as
spacious as Christ's and hardly high enough for a man to enter it
upright. The floor sank at the entrance, and then one saw the
burial-place before one like a narrow altar with the rock-wall
projecting over it. The two Apostles did a good deal of work in it, and
also arranged a door to close the entrance to the tomb. In the
burial-place a hollow had been made in the shape of a wrapped-up body,
slightly raised at the head. In front of the cave there was a little
garden with a wooden fence round it, as there had been in front of
Christ's sepulcher. Not far away was the Station of Calvary on a hill.
There was no standing cross there, but only one cut into a stone. It
must have been half an hour's journey from Mary's house to the tomb.
Four times did I see the Apostles relieve each other in watching and
praying by the holy body. Today I saw a number of women, among whom I
remember a daughter of Veronica and the mother of John Mark, coming to
prepare the body for burial. They brought with them cloths, as well as
spices to embalm the body after the Jewish fashion. They all carried
little pots of fresh herbs. The house was closed and they worked by
lamplight. The Apostles were praying in the front part of the house as
though they were in choir. The women took the Blessed Virgin's body
from her death-bed in its wrappings, and laid it in a long basket which
was so piled up with thick, roughly woven coverings or mats that the
body lay high above it. Two women then held a broad cloth stretched
above the body, while two others removed the head-covering and
wrappings under this cloth, leaving the body clothed only in the long
woolen robe. They cut off the Blessed Virgin's beautiful locks of hair
to be kept in remembrance of her. Then I saw that these two women
washed the holy body; they had something crinkled in their hands,
probably sponges. The long robe covering the body was severed. They
carried out their task with great respect and reverence, washing the
body with their hands without looking at it, for the cloth which was
held over it hid it from their eyes. Every place touched by the sponge
was covered up again at once; the middle of the body remained wrapped
up and nothing whatever was exposed. A fifth woman wrung out the
sponges in a bowl and then dipped them into fresh water; three times I
saw the basin emptied into a hollow outside the house and fresh water
being brought. The holy body was dressed in a new robe, open in front,
and reverently lifted, by means of cloths passed under it, onto a table
where the grave-clothes and swaddling-bands had been arranged for
convenient use. They wound them tightly round the body from the ankles
to below the breast, leaving the head, breast, hands, and feet free.
In the meantime the Apostles had assisted at the Holy Sacrifice offered
by Peter and received Communion with him, after which I saw Peter and
John, still in great bishops' cloaks, going from the front part of the
house to the death chamber. John carried a vessel with ointment, and
Peter, dipping the finger of his right hand into it, anointed the
breast, hands, and feet of the Blessed Virgin, praying as he did so.
(This was not extreme unction; she had received that while still
alive.) He touched her hands and feet with ointment, marking forehead
and breast with the sign of the cross. I think that this was done as a
mark of respect for the holy body, as at the burial of Our Lord. After
the Apostles had gone away, the women continued their preparation of
the body for burial. They Lid bunches of myrrh in the arm-pits and
bosom, and filled with it the spaces between the shoulders and round
the neck, chin, and checks; the feet, too, were completely embedded in
bunches of herbs. Then they crossed the arms on the breast, wrapped the
holy body in a great grave-cloth, and wound it round with a band
fastened under one arm so that it looked like a child in swaddling
clothes. A transparent handkerchief was folded back from the face,
which shone white between the bunches of herbs. They then placed the
holy body in the coffin which stood near; it was like a bed or a long
basket. It was a kind of board with a low edge and a slightly arched
lid. On the breast was laid a wreath of white, red, and sky-blue
flowers as a token of virginity. The Apostles, disciples, and all
others present then came in to see the beloved face once more before it
was covered up. They knelt quietly, shedding many tears, round the
Blessed Virgin's body, touching Mary's hands wrapped up on her breast
in farewell, and then went. The holy women, after making their
farewells, covered the holy face and placed the lid on the coffin,
which they fastened round with gray bands at each end and in the
middle. Then I saw the coffin lifted onto a bier and carried out of the
house on the shoulders of Peter and John. They must have changed
places, for later on I saw six of the Apostles acting as bearers--at
the head, James the Greater and James the Less; in the center,
Bartholomew and Andrew; and behind, Thaddeus and Matthew. There must
have been a mat or piece of leather attached to the carrying-poles, for
I saw the coffin hanging between them as if in a cradle. Some of the
Apostles and disciples went on ahead, others followed with the women.
It was already dusk, and four lights were carried on poles round the
coffin.
__________________________________________________________________
[182] The chronology here is not quite plain. The years given here
probably include parts of years, since on p. 166 AC states clearly that
Mary lived fourteen years and two months after the Ascension, or, as on
p. 169 , thirteen years and two months. If the Ascension took place in
A.D. 30, the date of the Assumption would be A.D. 43 or 44, which will
fit with the subsequent martyrdom of James the Great under Herod
(42-44). See n. 193, p. 167 . If she was then sixty-four years old (as
AC says here), she was born in 20 B.C. But here there are difficulties
about other statements: from AC's remarks on p. 98 we can deduce that
she was eighteen at the birth of Christ, though from p. 57 we gather
she was fourteen when she left the Temple and was married. The matter
is also confused by the historical problems of the date of the birth of
Christ and the date of the Crucifixion and Ascension, and cannot be
decided with any certainty. (SB)
[183] None of the apocryphal legends of the Assumption suggest that Our
Lady lived at Ephesus: most suggest Jerusalem, and the Greek legend (
John , 4) gives Bethlehem. (SB)
[184] The road from Jerusalem', one would suppose, would be the main
road eastwards through Colossae, etc., but the suggestion that Mary's
house was nearer the sea' than Ephesus (p. 160 ) indicates a road
southward along the coast. The issue is obscured by AC's supposition
that Ephesus must be several hours distant from the coast' (ib.). There
seems to be some geographical confusion here, although the precise
geographical history of Ephesus is rendered difficult through the
silting-up of its harbor. (SB)
[185] These visits to Jerusalem may be the source of the legends that
suppose her death to have taken place there. Several, the Latin (3),
the Greek (3), and Pseudo-Joseph of Arimathea (4), refer to her visit
to the sepulcher. The Council cannot be that of Acts 15, which took
place some years later. (SB)
[186] Her tomb at Gethsemani is mentioned in the Greek legend (48). The
others indicate the Vale of Josaphat, usually identified with the
Kedron Valley between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives. Gethsemani is
on one side of the valley. (SB)
[187] St. John Damascene, a monk at Jerusalem, died c. A.D. 754, and is
a Doctor of the Church. His sermon ( 2 de Dormitione Deiparae) relates
her burial at Jerusalem. It is recited in the Breviary on the
Octave-Day or during the Octave, and is in fact the simplest collection
of popular legends about the Assumption. (SB)
[188] AC's matter-of-fact account of the arrival of the Apostles (and
cf. p. 167 on their tiredness) contrasts strikingly with that of the
legends. In most of these the Apostles are transported by clouds to
Mary's deathbed, and in the Syriac legend some are already dead and
come to life for the occasion. (SB)
[189] St. Susanna was a Roman maiden, martyred in AD. 295. (SB)
[190] Prince Alexander Leopold Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfuuerst
was born in 1794. Ordained priest in 1815, he became a canon of Bamberg
in 1821. About this time he began to perform some remarkable miraculous
cures. The most outstanding was that performed on June 21st, 1821, when
Princess Mathilda von Schwarzenberg was released from her paralysis of
the previous eight years. The date at the heading of this section of
AC's statement shows that she was speaking less than two months after
this event, which therefore had a great topical interest. The holy man
became a titular bishop in 1844 and died in 1849. (SB)
[191] The mission-fields of the various Apostles as mentioned by AC on
these pages generally correspond to the traditional legends as
preserved in the Lives of the Saints, the Breviary, the Acta
Bollandiana, and local cult. Timon was one of the seven deacons ( Acts
6.15), and is so called by AC (infra, p. 169 ). The identity of
Eremenzear is unknown, but AC 169 states (p. 168 ) that he joined James
and Timon later and had been a disciple of Our Lord. (SB)
[192] The martyrdom of James the Great is the only death of an Apostle
narrated in the New Testament ( Acts 12.1), and the persecutor is
named: Herod, i.e. Herod Agrippa I. This Herod reigned AD. 42-44. AC
suggests that James went directly to his martyrdom after the
Assumption, in which case the Assumption must have taken place in AD.
44 at the latest. (SB)
[193] The late arrival of Thomas is included in the tradition preserved
by St. John Damascene, but among the early legends only in that
entitled of Joseph of Arimathea' (17). It might easily be supposed to
be invented in view of John 20.24, but it might equally easily be
supposed to be truly in character. (SB)
[194] Simeon Justus and Barnabas or Barsabas. There may be a confusion
here (unless other persons are intended): Joseph Barsabas Justus was
the candidate proposed with Matthias in Acts 1.23; Joseph Barnabas,
later the companion of St. Paul, first appears in Acts 4.36. (SB)
[195] All the ancient legends describe the pure soul of Mary leaving
her body. The dogmatic decree of Nov. 1st, 1950, however, makes no
pronouncement about the death of Our Lady. It is worth here quoting the
actual definition: "Immaculatam Deiparam semper Virginem Mariam,
expleto terrestris vitae cursu, fuisse corpore et anima ad caelestem
gloriam assumptam." -- " That Mary, the Immaculate and ever Virgin
Mother of God, at the end of the course of her life on earth, was taken
up, body and soul, into the glory of heaven." (SB)
__________________________________________________________________
XIX. THE BURIAL AND ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
The funeral procession followed the Way of the Cross set up by the
Blessed Virgin right up to the last Station, and then went over the
hill in front of that Station and stopped at the right of the entrance
to the tomb. Here they laid down the holy body, and then four of them
carried it into the burial-chamber in the rock and laid it in the place
hollowed out for it. All those present went in one by one and laid
spices and flowers beside the body, kneeling down and offering up their
prayers and their tears.
Many lingered there in love and sorrow, and night had fallen when the
Apostles closed the entrance to the tomb. They dug a trench before the
narrow entrance of the rock-tomb, and planted in it a hedge of various
shrubs brought with their roots from elsewhere. Some had leaves, some
blossoms, and some berries. They made the water from a near-by spring
flow in front of the hedge, so that no trace of the entrance to the
tomb could be seen and none could enter the cave without forcing a way
round behind the hedge. They went away in scattered groups, some
remaining to pray and watch by the tomb, others stopping to pray here
and there at the Stations of the Cross. Those who were on their way
home saw from the distance a strange radiance over Mary's tomb, which
moved them to wonder, though they did not know what it really was. I
saw it, too, but of all that I saw I remember only the following. It
was as if a shaft of light descended from heaven towards the tomb, and
in this shaft was a lovely form like the soul of the Blessed Virgin,
accompanied by the form of Our Lord. Then the body of the Blessed
Virgin, united to the shining soul, rose shining out of the grave and
soared up to heaven with the figure of Our Lord. All this lies in my
memory as something half realized and yet distinct.
In the night I saw several of the Apostles and holy women praying and
singing in the little garden in front of the rock-tomb. A broad shaft
of light came down from heaven to the rock, and I saw descending in it
a triple-ringed glory of angels and spirits surrounding the appearance
of Our Lord and of the shining soul of Mary. The appearance of Jesus
Christ, whose wound-marks were streaming with light, moved down in
front of her soul. Round the soul of Mary, in the innermost circle of
the glory, I saw only little figures of children; in the midmost circle
they appeared as six-year-old children; and in the outermost circle as
grown-up youths. I could see only the faces clearly, all the rest I saw
as shimmering figures of light. As this vision, becoming ever clearer,
streamed down upon the rock, I saw a shining path opened and leading up
to the heavenly Jerusalem. Then I saw the soul of the Blessed Virgin,
which had been following the appearance of Jesus, pass in front of Him,
and float down into the tomb. Soon afterwards I saw her soul, united to
her transfigured body, rising out of the tomb far brighter and clearer,
and ascending into the heavenly Jerusalem with Our Lord and with the
whole glory. Thereupon all the radiance faded again, and the quiet
starry sky covered the land.
I do not know whether the Apostles and holy women praying before the
tomb saw all this in the same manner, but I saw them looking upwards in
adoration and amazement, or throwing themselves down full of awe with
their faces to the ground. I saw, too, how several of those who were
praying and singing by the Way of the Cross as they carried home the
empty bier turned back with great reverence and devotion towards the
light above the rock-tomb.
Thus I did not see the Blessed Virgin die in the usual manner, nor did
I see her go up to heaven; but I saw that first her soul and then her
body were taken from the earth.
On returning to the house the Apostles and disciples partook of a
little food and then went to rest. They slept outside the house in
sheds built onto it. Mary's maidservant, who had remained in the house
to set things in order, and the other women who had stayed there to
help her, slept in the room behind the hearth. During the burial the
maidservant had cleared everything out of this, so that it now looked
like a little chapel; and thenceforward the Apostles used it for prayer
and for offering the Holy Sacrifice. This evening I saw them still in
their own room, praying and mourning. The women had already gone to
rest. Then I saw the Apostle Thomas and two companions, all girt up,
arrive at the gate of the courtyard and knock to be let in. There was a
disciple with him called Jonathan, who was related to the Holy Family.
[196] His other companion was a very simple-minded man from the land of
the farthest of the three holy kings, which I always call Partherme,
[197] not being able to recall names exactly. Thomas had brought him
from there; he carried his cloak and was an obedient, child-like
servant. A disciple opened the gate, and Thomas went with Jonathan into
the Apostles' room, telling his servant to sit at the gate and wait.
The good brown man, who did everything that he was told, at once sat
quietly down. O, how distressed they were to learn that they had come
too late! Thomas cried like a child when he heard of Mary's death. The
disciples washed his and Jonathan's feet, and gave them some
refreshment. In the meantime the women had woken and got up, and when
they had retired from the Blessed Virgin's room, Thomas and Jonathan
were taken to the place where the Blessed Virgin had died. They threw
themselves to the ground and watered it with their tears. Thomas knelt
long in prayer at Mary's little altar. His grief was inexpressibly
moving; it makes me cry even now when I think of it. When the Apostles
had finished their prayers (which they had not interrupted), they all
went to welcome the new arrivals. They took Thomas and Jonathan by the
arms, lifted them from their knees, embraced them, and led them into
the front part of the house, where they gave them honey and little
loaves of bread to eat. They drank from little jugs and goblets. They
prayed together once more, and all embraced each other.
But now Thomas and Jonathan begged to be shown the tomb [198] of the
Blessed Virgin, so the Apostles kindled lights fastened to staves, and
they all went out along Mary's Way of the Cross to her tomb. They spoke
little, stopping for a short time at the stones of the Stations, and
meditating on the Via Dolorosa of Our Lord and the compassionate love
of His Mother, who had placed these stones of remembrance here and had
so often wetted them with her tears. When they came to the rock-tomb,
they all threw themselves on their knees. Thomas and Jonathan hurried
towards the tomb, followed by John. Two disciples held back the bushes
from the entrance, and they went in and knelt in reverent awe before
the resting-place of the Blessed Virgin. John then drew near to the
light wicker coffin, which projected a little beyond the ledge of rock,
undid the three gray bands which were round it and laid them aside.
When the light of the torches shone into the coffin, they saw with awe
and amazement the grave-clothes lying before them still wrapped round
as before, but empty. About the face and breast they were undone; the
wrappings of the arms lay slightly loosened, but not unwound. The
transfigured body of Mary was no longer on earth. They gazed up in
astonishment, raising their arms, as though the holy body had only then
vanished from among them; and John called to those outside the cave:
Come, see, and wonder, she is no longer here.' All came two by two into
the narrow cave, and saw with amazement the empty grave-clothes lying
before them. They looked up to heaven with uplifted arms, weeping and
praying, praising the Lord and His beloved transfigured Mother (their
true dear Mother, too) like devoted children, uttering every kind of
loving endearment as the spirit moved them. They must have remembered
in their thoughts that cloud of light which they had seen from afar on
their way home immediately after the burial, how it had sunk down upon
the tomb and then soared upwards again. John took the Blessed Virgin's
grave-clothes with great reverence out of the wicker coffin, folded and
wrapped them carefully together, and took them away, after closing the
lid of the coffin and fastening it again with the bands. Then they left
the tomb, closing the entrance again with the bushes. They returned to
the house by the Way of the Cross, praying and singing hymns. On their
return they all went into the Blessed Virgin's room. John laid the
grave-clothes reverently on the little table before the place where the
Blessed Virgin used to pray. Thomas and the others prayed again at the
place where she died. Peter went apart as if in spiritual meditation;
perhaps he was making his preparation, for afterwards I saw the altar
being set up before the Blessed Virgin's place of prayer where her
cross stood, and I saw Peter holding a solemn service there, the others
standing behind him in rows and praying and singing alternately. The
holy women stood farther back by the doors, behind the hearth.
Thomas' simple-minded servant had followed him from the distant land
which he had last visited. His appearance was very strange. He had
small eyes, a flat forehead and nose, and high cheek-bones. His skin
was of a browner color than one sees here. He had been baptized; apart
from that he was just like an ignorant, obedient child. He did
everything that he was told--stood still where he was put, looked in
the direction he was told to, and smiled at everybody. He remained
seated in the place where Thomas had said he was to wait, and when he
saw Thomas in tears, he wept bitterly, too. This man always stayed with
Thomas; he was able to carry great weights, and I have seen him
dragging up enormous stones when Thomas was building a chapel.
After the Blessed Virgin's death I saw the assembled Apostles and
disciples often standing together in a group and telling each other
where they had been and what had befallen them. I heard it all, and if
it be God's will I shall recollect it.
[August 20 ^th, 1820 and 1821:] After performing various devotions most
of the disciples have taken leave and returned to their duties. The
Apostles are still at the house, with Jonathan, who came with Thomas,
and also Thomas' servant; but they will all be leaving as soon as they
have finished their work. They are working at freeing Mary's Way of the
Cross from weeds and stones and are planting it with beautiful shrubs,
herbs, and flowers. While working they pray and sing, and I cannot
express how moving it is to see them: it is as if, in their love and
sorrow, they were performing a solemn religious service, sad but
beautiful. Like devoted children they adorn the footsteps of God's
Mother and their Mother--those footsteps which followed, in
compassionate devotion, her Divine Son's path of suffering to His
redeeming death upon the Cross.
They entirely closed up the entrance into Mary's tomb by earthing up
more firmly the bushes planted in front of it and strengthening the
trench. They arranged and beautified the little garden before the tomb,
and dug out a passage at the back of the hill leading to the back wall
of the tomb, chiseling out an opening in the rock through which one
could see the place where the Holy Mother's body had rested--that
Mother whom the Redeemer, when dying on the Cross, had entrusted to
John and thus, to them all and to His Church. O, they were true and
faithful sons, obedient to the Fourth Commandment, and long will they
and their love live upon the land! Above the tomb they made a kind of
tent-chapel with carpets; it had wattle walls and roof. They built a
little altar in it, with a stone step and a big flat stone supported on
another stone. Against the wall behind this altar they hung a little
carpet on which the picture of the Blessed Virgin had been woven or
embroidered, very plainly and simply. It was in bright colors, showing
her in festal attire, brown with blue and red stripes. When all was
finished they held a service there, all praying on their knees with
uplifted hands. They made Mary's room in the house into a church.
Mary's maidservant and a few women continued to live in the house; and
two of the disciples, one of whom came from the shepherds beyond the
Jordan, were left here to provide for the spiritual comfort of the
faithful living in the neighborhood.
Soon afterwards the Apostles separated to go their different ways.
Bartholomew, Simon, Jude, Philip, and Matthew were the first to leave
for the countries of their missions, after taking a moving farewell of
the others. The others, except John, who stayed on for a while, went
all together to Palestine before separating. There were many disciples
there, and several women went with them from Ephesus to Jerusalem. Mary
Mark did much for the Christians there; she had established a community
of some twenty women who to a certain extent led a conventual life.
Five of them lived in her own house, which was a regular meeting-place
for the disciples. [199] The Christians still owned the church at the
Pool of Bethsaida.
[On August 22 ^nd she said:] John is the only one left in the house.
All the others have already gone. I saw John carrying out the Blessed
Virgin's wishes and dividing her clothes between her maidservant and
another girl who sometimes came to help her. Some of the stuffs given
by the three holy kings were among them. I saw two long white robes and
several long cloaks and veils, as well as coverings and carpets. I also
saw quite clearly that striped over-dress which she wore at Cana and on
the Way of the Cross--the one of which I possess a little strip. Some
of these things became the property of the Church; for instance, the
beautiful sky-blue wedding-dress, ornamented with gold thread and
strewn with embroidered roses, was made into a vestment for the Holy
Sacrifice for the Bethsaida church in Jerusalem. There are relics of it
in Rome still. I see them, but do not know if they are recognized
there. Mary wore it only for her wedding and never again.
All that I have described happened in stillness and quiet. There was
secrecy but (unlike today) no fear. Persecution had not yet reached the
stage of spies and informers, and there was nothing to disturb the
serenity and peace.
__________________________________________________________________
[196] She recognized this disciple by a relic of him which was in her
possession but had no name on it. She said of him on July 25th and
26th, 1821 Jonathan or Jonadab received the name of Elieser in baptism.
He was of the tribe of Benjamin and came from the region of Samaria. He
was with Peter and then with Paul, but was too slow for him he was also
with John, and came with Thomas from far away at Our Lady's death. He
was, like Thomas' simple Tartar servant, very childish in character,
but became a priest. I saw him still here in Ephesus three years after
Mary's death. Later I saw him left lying here, stoned and half dead,
and then taken into the city, where he died. Afterwards his bones were
brought to Rome, but his identity remained unknown. (CB) This Jonathan
or Jonadab is not identifiable in any available document.
[197] Partherme was indicated before (p. 114 ) as the land of Seir,
though the land of Theokeno, Media, was stated (ibid.) to be the
remotest. (SB)
[198] Thomas' late arrival was the immediate occasion of Our Lady's
tomb being opened and found empty. This is also a feature of the
general legend preserved by St. John Damascene and recited in the
Breviary. (SB)
[199] Mary Mark's house at Jerusalem, a meeting-place for disciples,
was the natural place for Peter to go to after his escape from prison (
Acts 12.12). It is evident that this event was after the Assumption,
because Peter's arrest was part of the same persecution which caused
the martyrdom of James the Great ( Acts 12.1) which, according to AC,
happened after his return to Jerusalem from Ephesus (supra, p. 167 ).
(SB)
__________________________________________________________________
Related Works By or About Anne Catherine Emmerich
The following works have been printed and reprinted by a variety of
publishers, sometimes with slight changes of title. I have included the
primary title of each of the works, followed by the corresponding
titles and bibliographic information of the first printing of those
works in German, French, and English. Additionally, I have included a
comprehensive list of the years of all other printings of these titles,
regardless of publisher.
The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
1. Brentano, Clemens. (1833). Das bittere Leiden unseres Herrn Jesu
Christi . Sulzbach: J. E. von Seidel.
Other printings: 1834, 1835, 1837, 1842, 1853, 1854, 1855, 1858, 1860,
1864, 1875, 1896, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1904, 1913, 1921, 1925, 1929, 1935,
1946, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1985, 1996
2. Brentano, Clement. (1836). La Douloureuse Passion de Notre-Seigneur
Jesus-Christ. Paris: Debecourt.
Other printings: 1837, 1839, 1859, 1869, 1890, 1916, 1920, 1979
3. Brentano, Clement. (1857). The Sufferings of Jesus. New York: P.
O'Shea.
Other printings: 1858, 1861, 1904, 1921.
4. Brentano, Clement. (1876). The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus
Christ. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet, & Co.
Other printings: 1880, 1907, 1911, 1914, 1923, 1926, 1928, 1930, 1942,
1943, 1948, 1951, 1955, 1956, 1968, 1981, 1983, 1986.
The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary
1. Brentano, Clemens. (1852) . Leben der heil. Jungfrau Maria.
Muenchen: Literarisch-artistische Anstalt.
Other printings: 1854, 1855, 1862, 1875, 1895, 1916, 1964, 1974, 1992,
2000
2. Brentano, Clemens. (1854). Vie de la Sainte Vierge. Paris: Sagnier
et Bray.
Other printings: 1858, 1875, 1881, 1931, 1935
3. Brentano, Clemens. (1954). The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Springfield, Illinois: Templegate.
Other printings: 1970
The Life of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
1. Brentano, Clemens. (1858). Das Leben unseres Herrn und Heilandes
Jesu Christi. Regensburg: Fr. Pustet & Co.
Other printings: 1860, 1864, 1879, 1897, 1900, 1913
The Lowly Life and Bitter Suffering of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His
Holy Mother Mary
1. Schmoeger, C. (1881). Das arme Leben und bittere Leiden unseres
Herrn Jesu Christi und seiner heiligsten Mutter Maria. Regensburg:
Friedrich Pustet & Co.
Other printings: 1884, 1892, 1896
2. Schmoeger, K. E.. (1914-1915). The Lowly Life and Bitter Passion of
Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother Mary. New York: The Sentinel
Press.
3. Brentano, Clemens. (1954). The Life of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, combined with The Bitter Passion, and The Life of Mary. Fresno,
California: Academy Library Guild.
Other Printings: 1960
3. Schmoeger, K. E.. (1979). The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical
Revelations. Rockford, Illinois: TAN Books and Publishers, Inc.
Other printings: 1986
The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich
1. Schmoeger, K. (1867). Das Leben der gottseligen Anna Katharina
Emmerich . Freiberg: Herder.
Other printings: 1870, 1873, 1885, 1896, 1907
2. Schmoeger, K. (1868-1872). Vie d'Anne-Catherine Emmerich . Paris: A.
Bray.
Other Printings: 1950
3. Schmoeger, K. E. (1885). The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich . New
York: F. Pustet.
Other printings: 1903, 1951, 1968, 1976, 1980, 1992
Miscellaneous
1. Emmerich, Anna Katharina. (1869). Der Heilige Petrus, ein Schuler,
Apostel, Martyrer und Stellvertreter Jesui Christi. Baltimore: J. & C.
Kreuzer.
2. Urbas, Anton. (1884). Die Reiche der Heiligen Drei Konige . Laybach
(or Laibach), Austria: Verlag des Verfassers.
3. Fahsel, Kaplan. (1941). Die heiligen drei Koenige in der Legende und
nach den Visionen der Anna Katharina Emmerich herausgegeben. Otten,
Switzerland: Basel & Rickenbach.
4. Fahsel, Kaplan. (1942). Der Wandel Jesu in der Welt, nach den
Visionen der Anna Katharina Emmerich. Olten, Switzerland: Basel &
Rickenbach.
Footnote References
1. James, M. R.. (1924). The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford:
Clarendon Press.
2. Cowper, J. Harris. (1897). The Apocryphal Gospels. London: David
Nutt.
3. Orchard, Dom Bernard. 1953. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture
. New York: Thomas Nelson and Sons.
4. (1947). The Book of Saints: A Dictionary of Servants of God
Canonized by the Catholic Church (4 ^th edition). New York: The
MacMillan Company.
5. (1912). The Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Co.
6. Singer, Isidore [ed]. (1901-1905). Jewish Encyclopedia . New York:
Funk & Wagnall.
7. Fahsel, Kaplan. (1942). Der Wandel Jesu in der Welt, nach den
Visionen der Anna Katharina Emmerich. Olten, Switzerland: Basel &
Rickenbach .
__________________________________________________________________
Indexes
__________________________________________________________________
Index of Scripture References
Genesis
[1]5 [2]12 [3]12 [4]15 [5]16 [6]20 [7]21 [8]28 [9]29
[10]32 [11]32 [12]32 [13]35 [14]41
Exodus
[15]3 [16]13 [17]25 [18]30 [19]35 [20]38
Leviticus
[21]2 [22]12 [23]12 [24]14 [25]15 [26]22 [27]24 [28]24
Numbers
[29]3 [30]5 [31]22 [32]24 [33]24
Deuteronomy
[34]7
Joshua
[35]3 [36]10 [37]10 [38]11 [39]15 [40]15 [41]16 [42]24
Judges
[43]4 [44]9 [45]21
1 Samuel
[46]2
2 Kings
[47]5
1 Chronicles
[48]3 [49]3 [50]11 [51]19
2 Chronicles
[52]24
Ezra
[53]5
Nehemiah
[54]3
Job
[55]1
Psalms
[56]68 [57]126
Proverbs
[58]8
Isaiah
[59]7 [60]11 [61]14 [62]15
Jeremiah
[63]41 [64]43:13
Ezekiel
[65]14
Daniel
[66]5
Zechariah
[67]1
Matthew
[68]1:1-16 [69]2
Mark
[70]11
Luke
[71]1 [72]1 [73]1 [74]1 [75]1 [76]1 [77]2 [78]2 [79]2
[80]2 [81]2 [82]2 [83]3 [84]3:23 [85]3:28-38 [86]5 [87]11
John
[88]1 [89]1 [90]1 [91]11:53-54
Acts
[92]1 [93]4 [94]6 [95]6 [96]12 [97]12 [98]12 [99]15
2 Corinthians
[100]1
Ephesians
[101]5
1 Thessalonians
[102]1
2 Timothy
[103]4
1 Peter
[104]5
Tobit
[105]3
1 Maccabees
[106]3
__________________________________________________________________
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Library at Calvin College, http://www.ccel.org,
generated on demand from ThML source.
References
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4. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=15&scrV=0#xiv-p19.1
5. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=16&scrV=0#xxi-p125.1
6. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=20&scrV=0#xxi-p128.1
7. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=21&scrV=0#xvii-p16.1
8. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=28&scrV=0#vi-p12.4
9. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=29&scrV=0#vi-p45.2
10. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=32&scrV=0#v-p95.1
11. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=32&scrV=0#v-p95.2
12. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=32&scrV=0#v-p96.1
13. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=35&scrV=0#xiv-p19.2
14. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Gen&scrCh=41&scrV=0#xxi-p57.1
15. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vii-p17.1
16. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=13&scrV=0#xx-p3.2
17. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=25&scrV=0#vi-p13.2
18. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=30&scrV=0#v-p98.1
19. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=35&scrV=0#xv-p56.2
20. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Exod&scrCh=38&scrV=0#xi-p2.1
21. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=2&scrV=0#v-p16.4
22. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=12&scrV=0#vi-p124.1
23. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=12&scrV=0#xx-p3.1
24. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=14&scrV=0#v-p28.1
25. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=15&scrV=0#v-p5.1
26. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=22&scrV=0#v-p5.2
27. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=24&scrV=0#v-p15.1
28. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Lev&scrCh=24&scrV=0#v-p16.1
29. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Num&scrCh=3&scrV=0#xx-p3.3
30. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Num&scrCh=5&scrV=0#v-p16.5
31. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Num&scrCh=22&scrV=0#xvii-p50.1
32. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Num&scrCh=24&scrV=0#vi-p68.1
33. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Num&scrCh=24&scrV=0#xvii-p50.3
34. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Deut&scrCh=7&scrV=0#xi-p4.2
35. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vii-p1.2
36. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=10&scrV=0#vii-p33.1
37. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=10&scrV=0#vii-p33.3
38. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=11&scrV=0#vii-p3.1
39. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=15&scrV=0#xiv-p13.1
40. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=15&scrV=0#xxi-p41.1
41. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=16&scrV=0#ix-p13.1
42. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Josh&scrCh=24&scrV=0#xiv-p19.3
43. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Judg&scrCh=4&scrV=0#vii-p30.1
44. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Judg&scrCh=9&scrV=0#xiv-p19.4
45. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Judg&scrCh=21&scrV=0#ix-p11.1
46. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Sam&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xi-p2.2
47. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=2Kgs&scrCh=5&scrV=0#xiii-p6.1
48. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Chr&scrCh=3&scrV=0#xiii-p6.2
49. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Chr&scrCh=3&scrV=0#xiii-p7.1
50. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Chr&scrCh=11&scrV=0#xvii-p83.1
51. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Chr&scrCh=19&scrV=0#xvii-p80.1
52. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=2Chr&scrCh=24&scrV=0#xxi-p101.1
53. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Ezra&scrCh=5&scrV=0#vi-p45.3
54. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Neh&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vi-p41.1
55. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Job&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xxi-p119.1
56. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Ps&scrCh=68&scrV=0#xi-p2.3
57. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Ps&scrCh=126&scrV=0#xi-p4.1
58. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Prov&scrCh=8&scrV=0#xii-p19.1
59. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=7&scrV=0#xiii-p24.1
60. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=11&scrV=0#xi-p9.1
61. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=14&scrV=0#vi-p64.1
62. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Isa&scrCh=15&scrV=0#xvii-p80.2
63. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=41&scrV=0#vi-p32.2
64. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Jer&scrCh=43&scrV=13#vi-p32.1
65. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Ezek&scrCh=14&scrV=0#xxi-p110.2
66. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Dan&scrCh=5&scrV=0#xvii-p25.2
67. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Zech&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xxi-p101.4
68. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=1&scrV=1#iv-p2.2
69. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Matt&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xxii-p7.1
70. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Mark&scrCh=11&scrV=0#xiv-p28.2
71. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=0#v-p108.1
72. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=0#vi-p46.1
73. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=0#x-p9.1
74. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xiii-p1.1
75. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xiii-p3.1
76. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xiii-p52.2
77. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xiii-p30.1
78. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xiv-p1.1
79. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xv-p1.3
80. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xx-p1.1
81. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xx-p15.2
82. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=2&scrV=0#xx-p15.3
83. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vi-p46.3
84. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=3&scrV=23#v-p64.1
85. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=3&scrV=28#iv-p2.1
86. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=5&scrV=0#xi-p8.1
87. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Luke&scrCh=11&scrV=0#xxi-p101.6
88. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xvii-p98.1
89. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xviii-p9.1
90. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xviii-p9.2
91. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=John&scrCh=11&scrV=53#vi-p17.1
92. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xxiii-p71.1
93. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=4&scrV=0#xxiii-p71.2
94. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=6&scrV=0#xiii-p52.1
95. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=6&scrV=0#xxiii-p50.1
96. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=12&scrV=0#xxiii-p59.1
97. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=12&scrV=0#xxiv-p17.1
98. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=12&scrV=0#xxiv-p17.2
99. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Acts&scrCh=15&scrV=0#xxiii-p23.1
100. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=2Cor&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xix-p11.3
101. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Eph&scrCh=5&scrV=0#xiii-p37.1
102. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Thess&scrCh=1&scrV=0#xix-p11.2
103. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=2Tim&scrCh=4&scrV=0#xviii-p9.3
104. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Pet&scrCh=5&scrV=0#xix-p11.5
105. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=Tob&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vi-p41.5
106. file://localhost/ccel/e/emmerich/lifemary/cache/lifemary.html3?scrBook=1Macc&scrCh=3&scrV=0#vii-p33.2